It was another day at sea as we dragged our broken ship onwards on its journey back to Argentina. Because of this there was little to break down in turn of events that occurred during the day, but there were a few rewards for the effort we put in on the deck.
During the morning there was nothing
especially different. Two Hourglass Dolphins passed just under the front of the
ship, but they never surfaced, we just saw their patterned bodies moving under
the waves. The birding was spectacular but only in terms of numbers, with
hundreds and hundreds of Slender-billed Prions circling the boat throughout the
morning.
In the afternoon the wind picked up, and the
ship started rocking, but there came many more birds in these fresher
conditions. It started with the Light-mantled Albatross showing phenomenally
around the ship, with occasionally additional Grey-headed Albatrosses and at
one point a nice juvenile Snowy Albatross. In one half hour period we spotted
eight Soft-plumage Petrels passing distantly, which was an exciting addition to
our afternoon and to our cruise overall. Sadly none were ever particularly
close but we could readily identify them through their contrasting underside.
As evening rolled around the conditions continued
to deteriorate, with the ship rocking significantly throughout the evening.
There would be no spectacular late whale encounter today.
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