Almost as soon as we had embarked on the ship in Puerto Madryn, we had started the cruise down to the Falkland Islands. After our first night on board we awoke to pretty calm conditions, and a few of us went out on the decks to watch for some seabirds and whales.
As the day went on, the sea got even smoother, so much so that it could be called a flat calm, or even a millpond!! We then realised that the ship had slowed right down, and we wondered what was happening. We started to suspect that something was wrong.
However, while the ship was almost at the standstill we did get some lovely passing Black-browed Albatrosses, White-chinned Petrel and Giant Petrels. The first two mentioned also gave me a lovely reflecting photo each.
Black-browed Albatross.
White-chinned Petrel.
Giant Petrel.
We also saw our first Penguins, a few small groups of Magellanic Penguin, well away from land.
Magellanic Penguins enjoying the calm.
Eventually we had an announcement over the tannoy, that we should all head for the lounge for an update. Unfortunately, one of the guests had fallen ill and we had to get them to a hospital, and we would have to head back to Comodoro Rivadavia, the nearest port with a hospital. Obviously, we were all a bit disappointed with this news, but understood the situation and the urgency.
On the way back we had some other good sightings out on the deck, including a close whale, believed to be another Southern Right Whale, and a much larger albatross, the Southern Royal Albatross.
Southern Right Whale.
Southern Royal Albatross.
After leaving the poor person that fell ill in Argentina, we were quickly heading back to sea, and aiming again for the Falkland Islands. On a plus side, the delay did mean that we would miss some stormy weather. In fact that became the story of our trip, hearing that some ships were having to take shelter, while we kept arriving just after bad weather, or leaving before some arrived.
I think every day throughout the whole trip that we were at sea, we saw Cape Petrels and Black-browed Albatrosses. The Cape Petrels were a favourite of mine, and I spent many hours trying, and failing much of the time, to get some nice photos. Also known as the Pintado Petrel, they did look smart as they flew around the ship, occasionally landing briefly on the water when they saw what they thought was food.
Cape Petrel.
Another bird that was a regular companion was the Slender-billed Prion. As we moved further south, they became Antarctic Prions. We could have seen another 4 species of Prion, but they all look very similar, and as they are very fast flyers it is almost impossible to be sure once we were further south.
Slender-billed Prion.
After a couple of days at sea, we were pleased to be approaching the Falkland Islands. A fabulous place with some wonderful wildlife. This will be the next post.