Returning to S America

We crossed the Drake Passage quickly as the Captain wanted to beat a storm system from the west (Pacific O). Overnite we had quite a bit of "ocean motion" which is what the expedition leader calls rough seas. Didn't bother either of us but we did rock n roll through the night.
By 8am this morning we were just off Cape Horn in calm seas and a sum breaking through the clouds. Cape Horn is where the Atlantic, Pacific and Southern oceans all meet and a very dangerous spot for mariners.






Actually the southern most tip of SA is an archipelago "shared" by Argentina and Chile. Chile claims Cape Horn.
Two nights ago we picked up a National Geographics scientist who had been on Livingston Island studying leopard seals. His specialty is critter cams. These tiny cameras are carefully attached to animals all over the world to learn more about their habits. This morning he presented a most interesting talk about this work. We saw a video taken recently of a leopard seal taking a fur seal pup underwater.



The captain really enjoys finding wildlife. Yesterday crossing the Drake he would not stop. This morning we were ahead of schedule and so when he found some killer whales he slowed the ship. He switched controls to port so he could best follow them.


We spent over an hour watching them. The naturalist know this mother son pair well. Here are a few pics which were taken by IPhone... Not the best shots but you can see the whales.








Quiet day as we all most start packing our gear. We disembark in Ushuia tomorrow morning and fly back to Buenos Aires tomorrow afternoon.
What an amazing trip this has been.


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