the constant transiting.....

So….we got more steaming to do.  Last night, we came upon the "target  (hopefully third time's the charm) berg….and it was too small.  When I mean small I mean only 2 mi length and who knows how wide.  Our goal is to study a free floatin' berg that's about 22-25km long and who knows how wide.  So, because our chief scientist scrapped that berg, we are now heading to Scotia Sea to chase one huge bright blip on the satellite image.  Man, I thought my joke of chasing bergs was just a joke.  We've been at sea for a week and saw little bergs and pack ice and sea ice, some birds, and a whole lot of fog.   But no big bergs…now we are steaming towards the bright blip that's 260 nautical miles away…it's going to take us another 1.5 days.  But with the sea ice….it may take longer.  More time to work on NY times crossword and reading the new briefs.

 

The main event of the day was going through sea ice and seeing a couple non-candidate bergs.  Of course after being denied the opportunity to study an iceberg, the scientists gladly braved the cold (a nice -27oC with wind chill) at the bow of the boat and shamelessly became tourists.   The blues of the ice were just amazing.  Surrounded by pancake shaped sea ice, circling petrels, and a few seals.  It was a spectacular sight.   

 

Till the next berg!