At Sea
Today we journeyed south guided by all the accumulated knowledge and electronic wizardry of our age. Long past is the time that prompted Captain Frederick Cook in 1898 to write:
“ It was a night of uncertainty, of anticipation, of discomfort—an experience which only those who have gone through the wilderness of an unknown sea can understand.”
Yet yesterday we walked among the naive newborn elephant and fur seal pups who soon will be making a living in these waters; traveling vast distances with the confidence shaped by millions of years of evolution, which we call instinct.
A head emerges briefly above the waves. We glimpse an elephant seal , a large male on his way to find his much needed nourishment after a hard two months ashore fighting and breeding. These consummate divers foraging at depths not even accessible to our most advanced technology live most of their lives in what remains the least known region of our planet.
Our journey to the southern end of the world is exciting, thought provoking and also humbling. It puts our frail “humanity” in perspective when we witness those creatures that thrive in the turmoil of the heavy seas and glide with joyful abandon in the roaring winds.
Today we journeyed south guided by all the accumulated knowledge and electronic wizardry of our age. Long past is the time that prompted Captain Frederick Cook in 1898 to write:
“ It was a night of uncertainty, of anticipation, of discomfort—an experience which only those who have gone through the wilderness of an unknown sea can understand.”
Yet yesterday we walked among the naive newborn elephant and fur seal pups who soon will be making a living in these waters; traveling vast distances with the confidence shaped by millions of years of evolution, which we call instinct.
A head emerges briefly above the waves. We glimpse an elephant seal , a large male on his way to find his much needed nourishment after a hard two months ashore fighting and breeding. These consummate divers foraging at depths not even accessible to our most advanced technology live most of their lives in what remains the least known region of our planet.
Our journey to the southern end of the world is exciting, thought provoking and also humbling. It puts our frail “humanity” in perspective when we witness those creatures that thrive in the turmoil of the heavy seas and glide with joyful abandon in the roaring winds.
