January 7. Today things got serious. Third day of three sea days. To land at South Georgia and Antarctica we are required to comply with extremely stringent requirements. Mandatory briefings (attendance taken), outer clothing inspected for any minuscule seeds, grasses, etc., and signing a document that each person is responsible for cleaning clothing and boots after each landing. All guests’ outer clothing will be inspected by a South Georgia official tomorrow. If any alien material is found, no one will be allowed to go ashore 😬. Picture is of the inspection process where teeny pieces of grass were picked out of Dave’s rain pants and gloves and hats were vacuumed. Thank you to Harry Pettigrew and Jim and Lee Stehlik for loaned gear.
After watching a variety of albatrosses and petrels near the ship for the past days, today we saw humpback whales. The Captain slowed the ship to get a closer look. Lectures today were on whales and Shackleton. A second mandatory briefing was held late today to review plans for 2 landings tomorrow (Grytviken, former whaling station and Fortuna Bay, King Penguin colony) and Zodiac orientation. Grytviken will be a good first landing as it is relatively flat with no snow or ice. 🐧
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