The long journey south- part 2

After spending the night on the ship just off Stanley we finally set sail destination Bird Island! It was another glorious day at Stanley but almost immediately a thick fog descended and it got a lot colder. Ship life continued the same- eating,  sitting around and drinking tea. I tried to get out on deck as much as I could and not long after we set sail we were already being followed by Black Browed Albatross (one of the species I am going to be working with). They were able to follow the ship effortlessly, and swooped in between all the waves without getting wet at all. The first evening a Wandering Albatross was sighted near the ship, although it didn’t come very close it still looked absolutely huge compared to all the other birds. This was very exciting for me as I am going to be working closely with these birds.

Me on the JCR near sunny Stanley

The second day at sea Light Mantled Sooty Albatross were seen (the third of the albatross species on Bird Island) and finally a single Grey Headed Albatross- the final albatross species on the island. We were also followed by a cloud of Cape Petrels which are gorgeous little birds.

Other wildlife of note were a few hundred Antarctic Fur Seals that we saw feeding and porposing (jumping out of the water) in a patch of ocean that must have a high density of food. Not far from there we sighted our first whales. The tell tale signs of water being blasted into the air from their blow holes was sighted from the bridge and broadcast to the rest of the ship. We all hurried out onto deck after grabbing some warm gear as it was snowing, and sure enough we saw at least three individuals. They were all quite far from the ship so we couldn’t tell what species they were, but suddenly one came right along side the ship and we got a good luck at it as it descending back down into the depths. Hannah (our Bird Island marine mammal expert) thought it was most likely a Minke Whale. 

My first glimpse of Bird Island through the fog and snow

The following day we were due to arrive at Bird Island, I was glad as although the ship was fairly comfortable I was getting tired of the constant movement of the ship (which had been a bit violent on occasion with everything flying across the cabin). I went out on deck to try to catch the first glimpse of Bird Island, but it was snowing and foggy and I saw nothing. I went back inside to warm up and not long after we had the call that we had arrived. Out of the window we could just make out the looming hills of Bird Island shrouded in the mist. We had finally arrived!