On Friday, November 20, the Marion continued its journey and left the Gulf of Morbihan under a bright sun.
Bye bye PAF !
I'm enjoying being in these southern latitudes! I've never been so close to Antarctica ...: D
A little pang in my heart as I watched Kerguelen grow distant on the horizon, I really enjoyed this district. The land is very arid and the landscapes are magnificent. The base is not beautiful, it has an industrial feel to it, but life on the base is great.
There is still so much to see, especially outside of the base, visiting the cabins in the accessible areas of the territory… part of me hopes to be able to return there for longer one day.
At sea once again, the ocean is grey and the wind is icy. We headed northeast, in the direction of Saint-Paul!
On board the Marion, some are starting to find the time long. After all, it's been over a month since we left Paris! For my part, I enjoy every minute of this crossing, I love the life on board and exploring the districts.
We are now few on board, which brings some privileges, in particular being able to play badminton in the hull of the boat! Really cool to play with the swell under the sea, haha. The more days go by, the more random things we do; it's time we arrived ...
The further north we went, the bluer the color of the sea and the warmer the air. We are getting closer to the tropics! Albatrosses and giant petrels continue to follow the boat. The sunrises and sunsets are magical. One morning, I was woken up around 4 a.m by such a bright orange glow; the sky was incredible, I stayed glued to my cabin window, watching the albatrosses fly in front of it all ...
Sunday, November 22, it was time to pack our bags and place them in big containers in the hull, so that they can be transported by helicopter when we arrive at the base. Tomorrow we will arrive in the district of Saint-Paul and Amsterdam and, as on every day before arrival, there is a stamping session organized on board.
On this occasion, all letters sent from the subantarctic districts are stamped by the ship's crew, and by the various people on board who have a stamp (I received mine, yeehee!).
Monday, November 23, we arrived at Saint-Paul very early in the morning!!
The island is a large collapsed crater which is open on one side, it's very impressive. The ship stopped here for a few hours, the time to carry out two scientific operations in a zodiac.
Saint-Paul is not inhabited, it is an island classified as a strict nature reserve. It has a sad history, from the time when men settled on Saint Paul for the lobster trade. Several people were abandoned here for several years (“the forgotten ones of Saint-Paul”).
It's very rare for the Marion to go through Saint-Paul; we're lucky this year!
Even more fortunate are the ornithologist, electronic and computer scientist VSCs who have the right to disembark to perform measurements and species counts. We watched them descend in the zodiac from the deck,
So small in front of the cliffs ...
There is a very large colony of rockhopper penguins on Saint-Paul Island. These are all the little white dots that you see, by zooming in a bit, at the water's edge and on the cliff,
Here they are jumping in the waves!
The cliffs are imposing
My first yellow-billed albatross! This species breeds on the island of Amsterdam.
We admired the view in the sun while we waited for the zodiac operations to end, The water is so clear and blue ... And I saw my first fur seal!
To top it off, during breakfast, we saw a family of killer whales right by the boat . We all rushed onto the deck, and right before our eyes, one of the whales circled the hull underwater, its white and black colors vivid through the crystal blue water. It rose to the surface, and we saw it very closely. It dived and swam away, but a few minutes later we saw the whole family, coming up to the surface to breathe; big and loud breaths. It was so beautiful ! The morning continued, it was very sunny and mild. The weather is much better here than in Kerguelen or Crozet. We slowly began to realize that were nearly at our new home!
Once the zodiac returned, we left Saint-Paul in the direction of Amsterdam. We could see the outline of the island in the distance….
Only four more hours at sea to go until we arrive!
