Thursday 5 November 2009

At sea (for another day!)

Today we woke up to beautiful bright sun and favourable seas. Many seabirds of several species were with us from morning to night. This was a consequence of our passage over the continental shelf of southeastern South America, which produces upwellings, highly rich waters, and the potential for abundant food for the seabirds.

This was a very special day as well as we saw our first Wandering Albatrosses of the trip, a species which has one of the longest wingspans of any bird at about 3.5 metres. Like most albtrosses, this species is endangered because of high mortality on long-lines set to catch Patagonian Toothfish.

At the end of the day, yet another red sunset was made particularly special by a beautiful rainbow that appeared over the ship.
We are presently at the latitude of 44 degrees South and still have 430 nautical miles to do before we reach the Falklands/Malvinas islands on Friday morning. We can't wait!