Day 15 – Drake Lake to rolling in the seas
Friday, 16 January 2026 – written by Bea
Last night ended on a high note, as we gathered on deck 10 for a lively musical show performed by the crew (and some of our team members). But no rest for the wicked. Early this morning, we were back on survey as we began to traverse the Drake Passage, or luckily, the Drake Lake in this case. Instead of big waves and fierce winds, we were met with gentle swell and blue skies. The first teams were on deck at 8am and despite a slow start to the day, mid-morning the teams had spotted various new species that we were yet to see on this trip.
We caught sight of hourglass dolphins! This species is very easily recognizable because of their distinctive black and white hourglass pattern, which gives them their name. These are the rarest dolphins in Antarctic waters, having very infrequent sightings, showing how lucky we were to have seen them. A while later, the team also got glimpses of beaked whales, which is a subgroup of whales that is made up of various species that are often difficult to distinguish in the field, especially from afar. These are some of the most elusive marine mammals, spending very little time at the surface and being known for being deep-diving specialists. Because of this, and the fact that they tend to travel in small and quiet groups, our lucky streak of exciting sightings continued.
After lunch, we took a break from surveys to go on a tour of the ship’s bridge. We got to see how the captain and officers smoothly navigated us throughout the trip and step into their shoes for a few minutes, as we got to go behind the wheel. We wrapped up this moment by taking a group photo from the perspective of the bridge onto deck 7, showing us how the captain sees us when we are on deck every day.
After this we returned to survey duty, continuing to scan the water as the ship moved further north. At this point we had also spotted some giant petrels and black-browed albatross. The albatross is a very agile flyer, being able to glide for hours without flapping its wings. The giant petrels can have wingspans up to 2 metres, much like some albatross species.
At 3pm we all gathered to work on our presentation we would later be giving to the other guests about the work we have been doing onboard and why it is important, and at 3:45pm it was go-time! The speakers did an amazing job at explaining our methods and aims to the guests and at presenting some of the results from the data we have collected so far. The guests were enthusiastic and engaged in various conversations with us, curious about our course and work we have been doing, which made sharing our experience feel very rewarding.
Some of the team members headed back to deck swiftly, as we still hadn’t seen a wandering albatross, one of the few sightings we haven’t yet encountered on this trip. These are most common in the Drake Passage because they enjoy windy conditions, so these would have been ideal conditions in which to spot one. While searching for this albatross, the team spotted a sei whale! These are more commonly found a bit further north so it was very special to be able to spot them at this point of the trip. Sei whales are the third largest baleen whales, after blue and fin whales, and are very fast for their size, reaching speeds of up to 50 km/h.
As the evening set in, we still hadn’t spotted a wandering albatross, and it was time to end surveys. But with one morning left in the Drake Passage, and a forecast of slightly windier conditions, we are still holding out hope to see one tomorrow. After dinner, we met up for a team meeting where we congratulated each other on the successful presentation earlier and discussed logistics for the end of the trip and way home, something I know we are all dreading. With this, our day which was filled with wildlife and wide horizons came to a close and we went to bed with high hopes for more exciting sightings for our last day at sea.