Today we completed our third day in the Falkland Islands with visits to West Point Island and New Island, both on the west side of the Falkland Archipelago. A highlight for many was the "long hike": forty-two people bravely striding out across New Island to visit a colony of South American fur seals. Fur seals were nearly extirpated from the Falkland Islands in the nineteenth century. Now, with full protection, the New Island colony is growing rapidly. The day was spectacular and the fur seals obliged with a visual and vocal display, their raucous voices echoing off of the rock cliffs.

Both islands support mixed colonies of black-browed albatross, rockhopper penguins, and king cormorants - a cacophony in black and white. The sight, the sounds, and, yes, the smell, all contributed to a total sensory (and photographic) experience. Today's photo, taken at the West Point Island colony: a face that only a parent (albatross) could love. Some of the larger chicks have reached the stage where they can be left alone while both parents fly out after food to satisfy the chick's voracious appetite. The chick sits erect on its "overturned kettle" nest of mud and vegetation, waiting none-too-patiently for the parents' return. Leaving the Falkland Islands at dinner time (ours, not necessarily the albatross'), we turned south toward the infamous Drake Passage, hoping that our fine weather continues for the passage to Antarctica.