I woke up to calm seas and a stunning morning despite the weather forecast.  We are cruising at 15 knots between stations and have almost completed our entire survey which included over 200 sampling stations.  There have been passing whales, birds and occasional ice floes with seals and sea lions resting in the open sea.  It feels like the Bering Sea is smiling upon us as we cruise towards Dutch.  I am nearly finished packing and am hoping for a beautiful sunset for our final night at sea. 

 

A few hours later, our beautiful calm day turned into a rough Bering Sea evening.  We are in some of the biggest seas that we have seen since starting our voyage and it seems that it is building.  We had no wind this morning with 1-2 foot seas.  Within an hour, the seas have built and the wind is blowing at 22 knots.  The Bering Sea has shown up to say hello before we disembark.