Many of the scientists have participated in one or both of the first two cruises in this project , and had a good idea of what to expect . For several others it is their first such cruise , and there is much to learn .
Other things that have needed organising today include the allocations of shifts . Some instruments run round the clock and need occasional checking up on , adjusting or resupplying with the chemicals that they use . Because of this some scientists need to be awake throughout the 24 hours , and the initial shift rota had to be sorted out today . Another reason for needing some people to be working throughout the night as well as day is that samples of seawater need to be collected every two hours as the ship is steaming along .
So at last we are off and heading south towards Antarctica across the famous ‘ Drake Passage ’. Because of the Earth ’ s rotation , ocean currents ceaselessly circle the Antarctic continent in an easterly direction .
Because there is no land barrier to block their way , the Antarctic Circumpolar Current ( ACC for short ) is never directly opposed and the ACC ’ s momentum is largely unchecked . This also allows winds to continue to blow across the ocean for thousands of kilometres , building up waves to unusual heights . There is just one place in the circuit of Antarctica where the ACC has to squeeze through a relatively small gap , and that is between the southern tip of South America and the Antarctic peninsula , where Antarctica sticks up a little further north . This gap is Drake Passage .
This morning a lot of people took their last chance to shop or go for a walk . The deadline for getting back from shore leave was 12pm , and shortly after 1pm we cast off from the jetty . It took a couple of hours to get out of the harbour and bay , stopping to test lifeboats on the way , and then , all of a sudden ( so it seemed ), the horizon through the window was going up and down and the ship rocking slowly back and forth as we got out into the ocean swell . It was sad to leave behind the Falklands but the predominant feeling is of anticipation as we are at last able to get started with the science we came here to do .
Because there is no land barrier to block their way , the Antarctic Circumpolar Current ( ACC for short ) is never directly opposed and the ACC ’ s momentum is largely unchecked . This also allows winds to continue to blow across the ocean for thousands of kilometres , building up waves to unusual heights . There is just one place in the circuit of Antarctica where the ACC has to squeeze through a relatively small gap , and that is between the southern tip of South America and the Antarctic peninsula , where Antarctica sticks up a little further north . This gap is Drake Passage .
Like many of the features here its name is a record of the history of Antarctic exploration . In the words of Roald Amundsen : “ In 1578 we come to the renowned English seaman , Sir Francis Drake . Though he was accounted a buccaneer , we owe him honour for the geographical discoveries that he made *. He rounded Cape Horn and proved that Tierra del Fuego was a great group of islands and not part of an Antarctic continent , as many had thought .”
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