group mail play plus user camera comment close arrow-down facebook twitter instagram

The 13th of January

That evening when we came back to the ship a piece of ice, estimated to weight well over a ton, was hanging form the main course yard on port side. We could write about this tradition – how we one year on this particular evening started taking some glacier ice on board to put in our drinks. How we than started taking pieces so large we put our drinks on it stead. How once the engineers with a  heath gun created a tunnel so drinks could flow through the ice. How the ice got larger every year and it now reach a new maximum – to large to bring on deck. But some things we don't write about, some things stay on the ship and how some things stay on Vernadsky.

Vernadsky station marked our Southernmost point this voyage. The Ukrainian research station is well known for its beautiful bar made with wood and by carpenters who were sent South to built a new jetty, but first of all it is a research station. Traditionally it has been a male only station, with a crew of about 11 staying over winter. Since last year however, Oksana has entered the team, a marine biologist researching whales. The area she is interested in is much larger than the one she can reach with the stations zodiac. As we during our voyages cover large areas along the peninsula and often have many enthusiastic and well equipped photographers with us, we started collecting data and bringing it with us to Vernadsky. The pattern on the underside of the fluke is different for each humpback whale, like a fingerprint – and a good photo with time and location can provide valuable information about the behaviour of the whales.

Comment on this article