Today we
mostly traveled and listened to presentations about polar bears and arctic
travel. The pack ice outside ranges in
size from the size of an icecube to the size of a city bus. The ocean slowly rolls below us, raising the
ice together in gentle waves. From time
to time the whole ship shakes, booming like a gigantic drum as we strike a
particularly large chunk of ice.
* * * * * * * * * * *
 |
| A blue whale. |
Whales! First we spot multiple great blue whales, the
largest animal that has ever lived. They
were once driven extinct in this area because of whaling, so it is amazing to
see them here. They surface around us,
blowing out air before diving again. We
can only see a small fraction of their bodies at a time, but even that amount
is huge.
Next we see
fin whales (second largest animal on the planet) followed closely by a
humpback. The humpback is being trailed
by a flock of kittiwakes -- we can tell where the whale will surface by
watching the birds. They lie quietly on
the ocean surface watching, then altogether they take off, swarming in the same
direction, coming down again on a patch of ocean just as the whales bumpy head
breaks out of the water. Small compared
to the other two species, it's amazing to see his/her tail fly out as s/he
dives again.
No comments:
Post a Comment