Chapter 6: Antarctic Circumpolar Current

Every dark night sees a morning. For us on M/s Midnatsol the morning was not different though. People were sea sick and breakfast tables ran empty. The ones who could manage to hold on to their appetite struggled to hold on to their plates. The crew though was chirpy and assured us that the ship was stable and equipped to handle the Drake Shake. Over breakfast,I made friends with a Norwegian lady who was 60 years old and a grandmother! Over the days and meals I would meet people from many different countries and learn about their stories.




Meanwhile, I enrolled myself for a lecture on Antarctic Circumpolar Current which promised to calm our turbulent minds at least. Antarctica is surrounded and naturally protected by two currents: Antarctic Circumpolar current and Antarctic Convergence. Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the largest ocean current on Earth. The current is circumpolar due to the lack of any landmass connecting with Antarctica and this keeps warm ocean waters away from Antarctica, enabling the continent to maintain its huge ice shelves. The current leads to a phenomenon called Antarctic Convergence where the cold waters from Southern ocean meet the warmer oceans from Atlantic and Pacific, creating a zone of upwelling nutrients. It’s like a churn of waters pushing out the nutrient from deep down in the sea to the surface. These nurture high levels of phytoplankton with associated copepods and krill, and resultant food chains supporting fish, whales, seals, penguins, albatrosses, and a wealth of other species. This phenomenon is key to life around Antarctica and a beautiful study of how nature balances everything it nurtures.

Armed with the knowledge I ventured out to the deck once again, this time in broad daylight. Far from city life, the air was lighter. My mind and body was getting aligned to the sense of movement in the ship and sea sickness was getting better. The sea was not as violent as the night and I could see albatrosses making headway in the sky. There was ocean till the sight could travel and which also meant unobstructed winds. The albatrosses struggled against the wind. Sometimes stalled in the sky because the wind speed negated their flight. The group of albatrosses kept fighting against the wind, driving strength from groups, being pulled back but never giving up. I wondered what motivated the albatrosses to fight the winds? Is this the responsibility to feed its family? Is it the free spirit of adventure motivating it to rage the strong winds? Or is it just its nature and it has never known any other way?