We had a two-day stretch at sea steaming across the Arafura Sea which lies west of the Pacific Ocean overlying the continental shelf between Australia and New Guinea. It is a fairly shallow tropical sea, and its waters are a breeding ground for tropical cyclones. Fortunately, we did not encounter one.
I enjoy sea days because they are a chance to sleep in, to look through my photos, to catch up on email and just to relax a bit and think over all that has happened in the last few weeks. Our two days were filled with interesting lectures by our naturalists and the guest lecturer. For instance, in a lecture titled “The Exotica and Erotica of the Deep”, we learned about the bizarre world of sexual reproduction in marine animals! Now who wouldn’t be interested in that? Or how about “Useful Plants of Indonesia” - no, marijuana is not an indigenous Indonesian plant. We also had a chance to tour the Galley to see how the chefs prepare the marvelous meals that come out of such a small space.
We also had a photo Critique session where a person can submit a photo anonymously and they are displayed one by one on the lounge screens. The photo team members take turns offering suggestions for ways to improve the photos or give suggestions for how the scene could have been shot differently. I submitted my photo of the boys grabbing onto the zodiac while swimming, one that I included in a previous email. It happened to be reviewed by the National Geographic photographer on board and I was pleased that I came away unscathed because I had felt that I had nailed that shot. But just hearing what was said about all the photos was very instructive and it was fun to see if their assessments as a photo went up on the screens matched mine or if they saw things that I didn’t.