 |
|
 click map for more detailed location info |
Report 16 February - Team B on board Pelagic at Dorian Cove
Tues 16th FebWe have our last view of the Antarctic iceshelves in a bay at the Melchior Islands. We had dinner at 23.00 after a rough trip from Dorian Cove to this last post before the Drake Passage. Despite mental preparations, two of us managed to be seasick before even entering the infamous Drake Passage.
The Drake got its name from Sir Francis Drake (1540-1596), an english explorer and buccaneer. Drake was born in Devon and had been sailing the seas since he was thirteen years old. He went on trips to the West-Indies and participated in raids against the Spanish. In 1577-1580, he was the first Englishman to sail around the world. On this voyage he mapped new territories and plundered Spanish ships. As a result he was often regarded a pirate.
In 1577 Drake nevertheless had a missionas an explorer. The merchants and ministers who financed his voyage wanted him to search for the unknown continent 'Terra Australis Incognita'. Since ancient times people believed there had to be another continent in the most southern regions of the earth. Map makers for a long time considered tierra del fuego to be part of this continent.
Drake proved this theory to be wrong. Whilst sailing just out of the Straits of Magellan, Drake's vessel, the Golden Hind was struck by a severe storm. They drifted away as far south as 57 degrees to the turbulent area where the Atlantic and Pacific oceans meet making the discovery that Tierra del Fuego was not part of Terra australis Incognita. Following drake the search went on but it was not until 1820 that the Antarctic mainland -the unknown continent- was seen for the first time.
This is our last night around here and as I sat on deck just a few minutes ago I felt a great sadness. It is as if I just got here and it is far too early to leave. I feel at home here and would like to stay for a few more months. There is sadness too because I realise so clearly that I am on the last unspoilt, pristine continent on our earth. It is a privilege, but what happens to the rest of the world? I have to go back to those regions where restless humans keep on searching for treasures and fortune on some far horizon whilst the biggest treasure is right underneath our feet and around us. Without the earth, we would be lost in space, we could not live.
Yes, it is important to safeguard this Antarctic continent, to keep it as pure as it is, but even more important is what we do in the rest of the world. The earth is a whole and it is rather strange loving and caring about only one uninhabited piece, whilst polluting and diminishing nature and the environment around our own homes. Hopefully more and more people from all over the world will work together to find solutions. There are ways of organising our economies and ways of life without doing the earth so much harm as we do now. We must be able to deal with our problems now. We cannot just leave them for future generations. The clean-up of the Russian Bellingshausen Base is a practical and at the same time symbolic project that shows how we people and nations can work together. We can make a difference, if we just start. Shortly we will start on our way home and if we don't get too seasick you will soon hear from us again.
Kirsten Kuipers
| Weather and Position Data | |||
| 1. Date | 2. Time | 3. Posn Lat | 4. Posn Long |
| 16/02 | 22.10 local | 64°-22.01S | 62°-56.80W |
| 5. Compass Heading | 6. Wind Speed | 7. Boat speed | 8. Wind Dir |
| 350° | 27 Knots | 6 Knots | +30° |
| 9. Pressure | 10. Air Temp | 11. Sea Temp | 12. Cloud Type |
| 997 | +3°C | no data | cumulus, 25% stratus |
| 13. Cloud cover | 14. Precipitation | 15. Sea State | 16.Comments |
| 100% | none | flat | windchill -18 |