logo
Luxury cruise ship caught in 40-foot waves while traveling through Drake Passage

Luxury cruise ship caught in 40-foot waves while traveling through Drake Passage

Fox News04-04-2025
Passengers on a cruise ship sailing through rough seas got more than they bargained for when waves up to 40 feet rocked passengers onboard.
Video posted to Instagram shows massive waves hitting the Quark Expeditions' Ocean Explorer ship, which was traveling between Antartica and the tip of South Africa, known as the Drake Passage, according to the New York Post.
"Imagine if you signed up for a 48 hour rollercoaster," one travel blogger wrote on Instagram. "Yes, we were safe and it was insane…and at times, even fun? 1000% worth it for this trip of a lifetime!"
Lesley Anne Murphy, a travel blogger, said that crew on the ship had told passengers to stay in their cabins until the ship was no longer being rocked by the waves.
Quark Expeditions said the Drake Passage has "fierce weather and extremely powerful waves," since it's an area where the Pacific, Atlantic, and Southern oceans flow.
The company said its ships are "built to navigate such waters."
"I am proud to say we survived not one but two Drake Shakes," Murphy wrote. "If you're lucky, you get the 'Drake Lake.' If you're like us, you get the 'Drake Shake' with 35-foot waves."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

A nomadic bear journeyed throughout Southern California. Now she may be settling down — with her cubs
A nomadic bear journeyed throughout Southern California. Now she may be settling down — with her cubs

Los Angeles Times

time13 hours ago

  • Los Angeles Times

A nomadic bear journeyed throughout Southern California. Now she may be settling down — with her cubs

The travel pattern resembled a Southern California hiker's dream. The journey began in Angeles National Forest above Glendora in May 2024 and progressed south into Azusa. There were stops, stays and starts from Monrovia and Sierra Madre, then northeast into La Cañada Flintridge, Tujunga and, eventually, the Santa Clarita Valley. The route then turned southward into the Santa Susana Mountains, Simi Hills and then the Santa Monica Mountains before a couple of beach days and a return trip home. But this trek — at least 100 miles — wasn't some bucket list excursion or 'only in L.A.' Instagram story. It was completed not by a hiker, but a roughly 175-pound female black bear known as Yellow 2291. The 5- to 7-year-old with a penchant for media coverage was recently spotted by Topanga residents with three cubs, making the quartet the first black bear family to reside in the Santa Monica Mountains in years. Whether the arrival of her cubs will stanch the bear's wanderlust is anyone's guess. But nearby residents have expressed questions — and concerns — at their unfamiliar ursine neighbors. 'Occasionally a bear ends up in someone's backyard, a pool, up in a tree, but very [rarely] in the Santa Monica Mountains,' Jeff Sikich, a wildlife biologist with the National Park Service, said at a Topanga Town Council meeting earlier this week. The bear is known by two designations: Yellow 2291, due to a tracking tag applied to her by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and BB-14, used by the National Park Service to indicate that she's the 14th black bear the agency has captured, tracked or collared since 2005. Most previous bears were located in the Santa Susana Mountains as the park service trapped them while studying mountain lions. What makes Yellow 2291 remarkable is her extensive wandering, according to Jessica West, a human-wildlife conflict specialist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife. The bear initially gained attention when she wandered into a trap in Claremont on May 31, 2024. At the time, wildlife officials estimated she was between 3 and 5 years old and weighed 175 pounds. She was given an ear tag and a GPS collar, West said, and moved into Angeles National Forest. That's when her prolific journey began. By June 2024, she had been documented traveling along the 210 Freeway corridor and crossing four major highways between the Santa Susana Mountains, Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains. She was spotted at Cheeseboro Canyon Park outside Agoura Hills before crossing major highways again and finding herself stuck in a tree in Chatsworth in July 2024. 'For whatever reason, she took a wrong turn, it seemed like, and ended up in very urban Chatsworth where she had no immediate access route back to her habitat,' West said. Wildlife officials again placed her back into Angeles National Forest, where West believes she likely met her mate. West said Fish and Wildlife was unaware of any male black bears in the Santa Monica Mountains. Between August and September, the bear was spotted in Sylmar before returning to the Santa Susana Mountains and eventually traipsing into Malibu, where she was captured on Pepperdine University campus security footage. She returned to an area near Topanga Canyon, where she denned for months, beginning in October. In January, she birthed three cubs — two male and one female. Since about April, she and the cubs have been spotted wandering around the Topanga area by residents. West classified Yellow 2291's travels as 'extensive movement,' but said the department does not know why she's traveled so much. Sikich, the wildlife biologist, noted another bear with a large travel range: BB-12, a 4-year-old male who roamed 138 square miles over three months in 2023 before being struck and killed by a vehicle on the 101 Freeway. He said BB-14 has traveled 47 square miles through seven months in the Santa Monica Mountains alone. 'We were not expecting to see this when we captured this non-target bear in Claremont,' she said. 'So it's been really incredible to see this range of movement, especially for a female bear.'

Woman Films Her Last Night in Maldives, Disaster Ensues: 'Still Recovering'
Woman Films Her Last Night in Maldives, Disaster Ensues: 'Still Recovering'

Newsweek

time2 days ago

  • Newsweek

Woman Films Her Last Night in Maldives, Disaster Ensues: 'Still Recovering'

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. A woman on her final night in the Maldives found herself diving into rough waters to retrieve her phone after it was swept into the sea while trying to film for TikTok. The clip, shared on July 13 by TikTok user @georginagrigg88, has amassed more than 96,000 views and captures the moment a relaxing vacation turned into a search mission. "It's my last night in the Maldives, I've been there two weeks," she says in a voiceover in the video. "Every time I left the villa, I have set my tripod that I can record a video of me leaving the villa for my TikTok [video], that I'm gonna make when I get back, of me every time I leave the villa." The video shows the woman wearing a dress and walking away from the camera before a sudden shift in weather changes the mood. "There'd been a storm that afternoon, it was a bit windy but no windier than it had been earlier in the week, so I thought it was fine," she says. Moments later, she adds: "Just as I'm opening the door, I see the tripod fall into the sea, next to my villa." What follows is a chaotic realization as she sees that her "phone's become detached from the tripod. The tripod and light [on it] had been swept out to sea—God knows where they are now." Faced with the possibility of losing her phone on the last night of the trip, the woman remained calm but aware of the stakes. "I tried not to panic. It's my last night. I'm flying home the next day. I've got no way of contacting the taxi man. I've got work the day all on my phone," she said. She later spotted a "glimpse" of the phone in the water beside the villa and thought "that looks like it's settled on the sand." So, she "stripped off" and "shoved a bikini" on as well as a life jacket and jumped into the sea, swimming around where she thought she saw the phone. Despite the rough conditions, she didn't give up. "I'm feeling around with my foot. I can't find it. I'm about to give up and like a miracle, I find it," she says. Remarkably, the phone was still functioning. "I feel it underneath my foot and I grab it with my toes and pull it up. As I'm pulling it up, I hear an Instagram notification. I can't believe it is still working. I literally can't believe my luck," she said. While the brand of the woman's phone is unknown, the durability of her device echoes broader market trends. The global market for waterproof and rugged smartphones was valued at $993 million in 2024 and is projected to reach $1319 billion by 2031, according to QYResearch, a market research firm founded in California. The report said that such phones are built to higher standards than conventional smartphones, with more rigorous structural designs and sealing technologies. The report also noted that these some high-end models "comply with military-grade stable performance under extreme conditions such as high/low temperatures, humidity, and vibration." In a caption shared alongside the TikTok video, the woman said: "Still recovering from the trauma to be honest. P.S. I can swim, but the sea was so rough from the storm that I was worried I might get swept out to sea and no one would know I was I was trying to save the glam." The woman remained astounded not just by the successful rescue of her phone, but the condition she emerged in. "If ever I believe there was someone looking down on me, it would be now," she said. "I didn't even get my hair and makeup wet, which was a miracle in itself." She ended the night on a high note: "I got out of the sea and put my dress on and I went for dinner and I had a lovely last night in the Maldives." Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified. A stock image of a woman sitting on the deck near a villa at a Maldives resort. A stock image of a woman sitting on the deck near a villa at a Maldives resort. Getty Do you have a travel-related video or story to share? Let us know via life@ and your story could be featured on Newsweek.

American influencer stuck on island off Antarctica for six weeks
American influencer stuck on island off Antarctica for six weeks

Boston Globe

time2 days ago

  • Boston Globe

American influencer stuck on island off Antarctica for six weeks

It is winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and the island is a crusted, windswept landscape of ice and snow. Temperatures have been well below freezing, with frequent snow showers. Chilean officials stated that it would be unsafe for Guo to fly over the Drake Passage, the treacherous body of water between Chile and Antarctica, due to its rough weather and poor visibility. A Chilean air force plane crashed over the Drake Passage in 2019, killing 38 people. Advertisement Chilean officials have said that commercial airline service to the island will not resume until winter ends. In a statement on Wednesday, Chile's aviation authority said that Guo was free to leave the island as soon as he could finance a trip on a Chilean ship or arrange a flight to Punta Arenas, on the southern tip of Chile. Advertisement However, the aviation authority said Guo cannot fly his own Cessna off the island because it has expired life rafts and life jackets and lacks an anti-icing system. In addition, 'there is no certainty that the remaining fuel on the aircraft will be enough to reach the city of Punta Arenas,' about six hours away, the agency said. Guo said he does not want to leave the island without his Cessna and believes the plane is in good condition with enough fuel to reach South America. With no resolution to the standoff, he said, he has been spending 99 percent of his time alone in his room, downloading books like the science fiction 'Foundation' series by Isaac Asimov, about a group of exiles trying to save humanity on a remote planet, and trying to press his case to Chilean officials. 'It's very hard and it's really isolating and lonely,' he said via Zoom. 'That means, like solitude — like, you know, confined solitude.' Guo had been on a mission to fly to all seven continents. He was hoping to raise $1 million for cancer research and was documenting his travels on Instagram, where he has 1.4 million followers. He began the trip in Memphis, Tennessee, on May 31, 2024, he said. His Instagram videos chronicle misadventures like engine troubles, storms, and his brief detention in Myanmar, as well as happy moments posing next to the pyramids in Egypt and flying over picturesque lakes in Switzerland. Advertisement Antarctica was the only continent he had not landed on when he took off from Punta Arenas on June 28. He was planning to fly to Ushuaia, in southern Argentina, he said. Instead, he landed hundreds of miles away at Teniente Rodolfo Marsh Martin Airport, a Chilean airfield on King George Island. Chilean officials detained him there and accused him of submitting a 'false flight plan' that he never intended to take and of landing without authorization. They said his actions jeopardized public safety. Guo disputed that accusation. He said that after he took off from Punta Arenas before sunrise, the instruments that allowed him to navigate in the dark began malfunctioning. Ice began forming on his plane, making it harder to fly. He lost communication with air traffic controllers, he said. He also began to lose airspeed. He flew over the ocean to avoid hitting mountains and headed for Antarctica, which he said was the closest place to land. 'I was like, 'I don't care what's going to happen,'' Guo said. 'Like, this is an emergency. I need to get down.' Fire trucks surrounded his plane after it landed, he said, and he was stunned to see 'a bunch of dudes just pull up in black suits' and tell him that he was being detained at Chile's outpost on the island, President Eduardo Frei Montalva Base. As his case played out in a Chilean court, he appeared before a judge via Zoom. On Monday, a Chilean judge approved the deal to dismiss the case after Guo's lawyers gave prosecutors flight records, air traffic control recordings, and other evidence to substantiate Guo's account. The file included a screenshot of a WhatsApp chat that, the lawyers said, shows a Chilean aviation official replying 'yes' with a thumbs-up emoji when Guo asked if he could land at the airfield on King George Island. Advertisement Guo said he was relieved that the case had been resolved, but frustrated that it took so long. He said he just wants to fly off the island and return to Memphis, where his saga began more than a year ago. 'I'm fighting for my right to fly,' Guo said. 'I'm fighting for my right to continue this mission to raise $1 million.' But he added, 'Nothing is concrete yet.' This article originally appeared in

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store