A WHOLE NEW WORLD
Local knowledge is therefore critical. The quicker the Captain and Expedition Leader can propose alternatives, the more likely it is passengers can go ashore at another location that day.
T
hus the ability to remain flexible ensures delivering an excellent experience for our passengers, no matter the conditions. Flex-
ibility also ensures my job is never dull. Rather than repeating the same route week, I might arrive on the bridge any morning unsure of where the ship might be or where it is heading.
Another big difference with the mega-ships is that we also have to be experts in how to observe and approach wildlife. When approaching a polar bear in Arctic Sval- bard, for instance, I have watched how our Captain crept up it almost imperceptibly. Wind directions, current and even the direction of the light for pho- tography are all factors he considers when making an approach, while naturalists on the bridge help us to read the bear’s reaction.
In all my sailing before joining expedition ships, I have operated in well-surveyed, deep areas. As evidenced by the numerous groundings of expedition ships in the last few years, however, the Polar regions can be a dangerous place to navigate without proper experience and equipment. Large sections of the Arctic and Antarctic are poorly charted, with limited or no information about the sea floor and navigable depths in places. At Lindblad, we use a variety of methods to navigate safely in areas where charts are poor or incomplete. Primarily, we rely on our old, known routes that we have sailed for many years. If we have passed over a spot once before, we know it is safe to go over it again. We have hundreds of records of past routes and positions, all overlaid with recorded water depths, which form the backbone of our navigation. In addition, Lindblad has forward-looking sonar that scans the waters ahead for sudden changes in depth and contour. All ships have an echo sounder that determines the depth of water directly below, but few have this ability to look ahead, enabling us to take the ship cautiously into less familiar regions. Finally, we also perform our own surveys with a Zodiac and a portable echo sounder. I spend many hours in Zodiacs recording depths electronically by going back and forth across bays or passages.
Back on the bridge, I upload the data into our electronic chart system. At that point, we know more about the sea-bottom than government hydrographic agencies and can cautiously take the ship into a now-surveyed passage in the future.
Summer 2011 I WORLD OF CRUISING
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