Life On Board the Ship • OttsWorld

People Will Get Injured

The ship is continuously moving, bobbing, and swaying, and inevitably, there are accidents. On the Ross Sea journey, we had to have one person emergency evacuated off the ship, and another broke his ribs (he was able to stay on the ship, though, and still did the landings on Antarctica!). 

It takes a while to get used to the movement, and until you do, you have to hold on at all times. Sometimes the seas were so rough I nearly rolled right out of bed. Chairs fell over, drinks spilled, and showers were equipped with grab handles for a reason!

You are required to have emergency evacuation insurance for good reason. Plus, there is a doctor on board who can assist and advise in emergencies.

There is likely some sort of injury on every trip. Just try your best to make sure it’s not you!

Wildlife Encounters: What Kind of Animals Can You See, and Could You Get Close to Them?

We saw Penguins (Gentoo, Macaroni, Chinstrap, Adelie), Seals (Leopard, Crabeater, Elephant, Weddell), Whales ( Minke, Orca, Fin), and a variety of seabirds. In the Ross Sea, we were also able to see King Penguins. We saw some pretty spectacular sights when it came to the animals – about 100 Orca whales hunting/harassing Minke whales, a leopard seal and a pup nursing, and rookeries including 60,000 penguins!

Yes – you were able to get very, very close to the animals in certain situations. In fact, the Fin whales were actually about 3 meters in front of our boat! And I had penguins come right up to me and peck on my GoPro camera a few times!

The expedition staff and crew were wonderful at pointing out the animals and providing you with loads of information on them. In addition, the Captain was thoroughly skilled at maneuvering our large ship very close to the wildlife, but not so close that it scared them.