Things are winding down...

Today we sampled at our last few stations of this cruise. The early morning hours were graced with warm strong sun and a cloudless sky. The last several days have been, for the most part, absolutely beautiful. 

Sunset over a large ice berg; can you find the penguins?

While standing on the 01 deck at around 3 AM this morning, admiring the mountain ridges that plummet from around 4000 feet directly into the sea, a massive very healthy-looking humpback whale fluked and dove next to the ship. While continuing to collect data, measure the gravity of krill, salps and chaetognaths, and enter data, it is impossible to ignore the grandeur of the sea and landscape here. It is also stunning how quickly the seas can change. In a blink the wind came up this afternoon and the sky clouded over. The winds went from a light 5 knots to a sustained 25 to 30 knots. We are on our way to make the last stops at Palmer Station and a field camp fondly called Copacabana, before crossing back over the Drake Passage to Punta Arenas. While it seems that we are all excited to be getting home, it is a little sad that the cruise’s end is drawing near.

- Karen