By Bob Zuur
WWF-New Zealand Marine Advocate
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Bob Zuur is a marine biologist who is spending a month
exploring Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic Islands
to raise awareness of the area and its importance. His current work with WWF
focuses on fisheries, offshore oil exploration and seabed mining, and on
increasing protected areas in our marine environment. He will be
documenting his travels here on
3news.co.nz.
Our
Far South Bob Zuur RSS Feed
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Wow!! Yesterday was the calm before the storm. Abeam of Cape Adare we hit a brisk southerly of a good 40 or 50 knots (around 90 km per hour). In the course of the day, the seas built up to a three, sometimes four metre swell.
Lucky for us, the swells hit us head on, meaning that the Spirit didn't roll much. But depending on the sequence of waves, some hit us hard, sending spray way over the top of the bridge.
The Spirit would grind to a halt and the pitch up as the wave rolled beneath us. There were those of us who would cheer when a big wave hit. And those who groaned and rolled over, miserable in their bunks.
Flocks of chocolate and white Antarctic petrels guided us south - I think they took advantage of the slipstream beside the Spirit. Like giant snowflakes floating in the gale, a couple of snow petrels flew south with us. It's hard to disagree with Adam Walleyn's opinion that these are the most beautiful creatures in the Southern Ocean. Adam is Heritage Expedition's resident biologist and gets to travel regularly in these waters. He told me that snow petrels spend their whole life on and around the pack ice. They are the most southern breeding petrels, laying their eggs on icy cliffs.
So as we yahooed at each successive wave breaking over the boat, I glanced out at these 300g snowflakes, wafting among the waves, so far from land.