Shag rocks are in the way
Another day at sea, surrounded by the immense Southern
Ocean, being moved like sitting in a nutshell in the middle of an endless expanse
of liquid universe. The weather was mysterious, bright one minute and the next
moment it was snowing as if announcing the Christmas time and life continued in
a pleasant and relaxed pace on board Fram. We were eager to know more about
South Georgia, and of course about of Antarctica and therefore most of us
attended the interesting lectures which were presented by our colleagues and
expedition staff. The sea has been benign to us, much calmer than yesterday and
we used this truce of nature to better prepare for the upcoming landings; that
meant, cleaning the boots, listening to the mandatory briefings regarding behavior
on land and towards wildlife, respecting plant protection measures, etc. 
Now, it is migration time and while we are heading south, so
are the whales. These fantastic creatures of these far away oceans are also
heading in that direction, so it is no wonder that we enjoyed many sightings
all day, all the groups moving to the same destination: Antarctica. That’s the
“El Dorado” for the krill, the lure and reward for most of the animals which
populate these cold seas. Tomorrow we expect to see what man has done in former
days in these far away islands to survive and bring some revenues home by
taking what nature could offer in those early days of sealing and whaling. Both
animal populations have recovered now and signs of this process were visible
from the ship since we constantly encountered groups of both species. 
