Whole days spent rising and falling on the powerful ocean swell. Nothing to do but watch the waves surge, rise into crests, and crash in stinging, icy sea spray. I follow the albatrosses--which seem to skim the surface of the water--with my gaze, and look out for the green crystal droplets that glitter at the crest of each wave. Nothing to distract me from the endless surge of the ocean, which clutches my stomach and drives me to distraction. How many times was I tempted to lean just that little bit further over the gunwale to put an end to my seasick misery?

Whole days spent rising and falling on the powerful ocean swell. Nothing to do but watch the waves surge, rise into crests, and crash in stinging, icy sea spray. I follow the albatrosses--which seem to skim the surface of the water--with my gaze, and look out for the green crystal droplets that glitter at the crest of each wave. Nothing to distract me from the endless surge of the ocean, which clutches my stomach and drives me to distraction. How many times was I tempted to lean just that little bit further over the gunwale to put an end to my seasick misery?

The Falklands, South Georgia, the South Orkneys, the South Shetlands, Elephant Island, Deception Island, King George Island, the Kerguelen Islands, Macquarie Island, Campbell Island, the Auckland Islands, Snares Island. The Roaring Forties, the Furious Fifties, the Screaming Sixties. The call of the wild. I first ventured to these southern fringes of the earth in late 19,88. Since then I have been back five times, traveling via Tierra del Fuego or Tasmania. During these voyages, upon the solid Society Explorer or the humbler Pelagic, all that we ever saw at sea was one ship--the Marion- Dufresne--and countless whales and icebergs. My introduction to the fauna of the subantarctic region took place on Sea Lion Island in the Falklands Archipelago, also known as Las Malvinas.

FOREWORD" THE CALL OF THE WILD

INTRODUCTION" THE LURE OF THE FAR SOUTH

THE FALKLANDS:

Beauchene Island

THE ANTARCTIC:

Wild Whiteness

SOUTH GEORGIA:

The Dance oF the Sea Lions

THE KERGUELEN ISLANDS AND ADELIE LAND:

Lies, Loves, and Journeys

SNARES ISLAND, THE AUCKLAND ISLANDS,

AND MACQUARIE ISLAND:

The Mystery oF the Red Forest