BY SUSAN R.EATON, EXPLORER CORRESPONDENT, FEBRUARY 2011

Dr. Cabell Davis of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution examines the Digital Autonomous Video Plankton Recorder (DAVPR) enters the Scotia Sea

The imposing cliffs and cascading glaciers of Elephant Island faded into the mist as we set out across the Scotia Sea, retracing Sir Ernest Shackleton’s heroic, 800-mile ocean voyage from Elephant Island to South Georgia. Shackleton’s 1916 crossing took 17 days in the James Caird, a 22-foot life boat rigged with a canvas deck and small sail, and equipped with a sextant and compass. During our three-day crossing, my fellow explorers and I were humbled by Shackleton’s achievement; our vessel, the 70-meter Professor Molchanov, rolled up to 25 degrees, water crashed over her decks, and the topsides became encrusted snow and ice – one of a mariner’s worst fears. << MORE >>

http://www.aapg.org/explorer/2011/02feb/antarctic0211.cfm

Dr. Dr. Steve Nicol of the Australian Antarctic Division prepares plankton net for deployment off Elephant Island