At Sea
We have been in the Furious Fifties on a heading of 281° with Shag Rocks astern and the Falkland Islands ahead. Uncharacteristically, we have had calm seas and light winds, just the kind of weather no one, especially our expedition leader, Matt Drennan, expected in these waters but just the right kind of weather for finding whales and dolphins. And find them we did.
At 0630 an early morning wake up call went out that killer whales were ahead. A pod of about 12 were moving along slowly with the large, vertical fin of an adult male clearly visible. Many responded to the call and we spent the hour before breakfast watching as the orcas went about their early morning activities. They would later become the subject of an orca story-telling recap.
After breakfast a small pod of beaked whales were seen swimming at the surface. Typically for these kinds of whales they did not stay long at the surface but those who had a port side view and were quick enough had a brief look. Later in the morning a couple more were spotted. After much discussion it was thought that these might be bottle-nosed whales.
After lunch the call went out that dolphins were jumping out of the water. A lively discussion followed about whether these were Peale’s dolphin or hourglass dolphins. After finally having wonderful views of their striking black and white bodies, all concluded that they were hourglass dolphins. They created rooster tails when they came to the surface to breathe reminiscent of the Dall’s porpoise in southeast Alaska. Many jumped clear of the water and pictures taken with digital cameras clinched our identification.
Cetaceans were not all that we saw during the day. Wandering albatrosses came by along with an occasional light-mantled sooty albatross. At mid-day hundreds of prions followed the ship for more than an hour and they were close by the bow. Rarely seen Atlantic and Kerguelen petrels crossed our path as well. Even king penguins were seen presumably on their way to the Falklands. Watchers had had an active day.
At recap a number of stories were told about orcas including a very exciting encounter that Tove Petterson had with orcas in Papua New Guinea where she snorkeled with a pod of them. They came so close to her that when she got out of the water she was shaking but they had threatened her only in her mind but not in theirs as they soon disappeared as abruptly as they had arrived.
Our day ended with icebergs in the distance, sightings of more than 60 marine mammals, an exciting recap about orcas and extraordinarily calm seas.
We have been in the Furious Fifties on a heading of 281° with Shag Rocks astern and the Falkland Islands ahead. Uncharacteristically, we have had calm seas and light winds, just the kind of weather no one, especially our expedition leader, Matt Drennan, expected in these waters but just the right kind of weather for finding whales and dolphins. And find them we did.
At 0630 an early morning wake up call went out that killer whales were ahead. A pod of about 12 were moving along slowly with the large, vertical fin of an adult male clearly visible. Many responded to the call and we spent the hour before breakfast watching as the orcas went about their early morning activities. They would later become the subject of an orca story-telling recap.
After breakfast a small pod of beaked whales were seen swimming at the surface. Typically for these kinds of whales they did not stay long at the surface but those who had a port side view and were quick enough had a brief look. Later in the morning a couple more were spotted. After much discussion it was thought that these might be bottle-nosed whales.
After lunch the call went out that dolphins were jumping out of the water. A lively discussion followed about whether these were Peale’s dolphin or hourglass dolphins. After finally having wonderful views of their striking black and white bodies, all concluded that they were hourglass dolphins. They created rooster tails when they came to the surface to breathe reminiscent of the Dall’s porpoise in southeast Alaska. Many jumped clear of the water and pictures taken with digital cameras clinched our identification.
Cetaceans were not all that we saw during the day. Wandering albatrosses came by along with an occasional light-mantled sooty albatross. At mid-day hundreds of prions followed the ship for more than an hour and they were close by the bow. Rarely seen Atlantic and Kerguelen petrels crossed our path as well. Even king penguins were seen presumably on their way to the Falklands. Watchers had had an active day.
At recap a number of stories were told about orcas including a very exciting encounter that Tove Petterson had with orcas in Papua New Guinea where she snorkeled with a pod of them. They came so close to her that when she got out of the water she was shaking but they had threatened her only in her mind but not in theirs as they soon disappeared as abruptly as they had arrived.
Our day ended with icebergs in the distance, sightings of more than 60 marine mammals, an exciting recap about orcas and extraordinarily calm seas.
