Land Ho!

This morning it was quite fresh up on deck. We are being followed by a whole flock of what I think are cape petrels.

We had our Zodiac training in the theatre at 10am and went through our bio-check (they go through all the velcro fastenings and pockets on our outer clothing to ensure that we don't accidentally take any seeds or contaminants ashore with us).

This afternoon I attended a fascinating lecture about whales. Just as the lecturer was finishing up we were told there were some humpback whales out front of the ship. The captain "pulled over" so that we could get up on deck and watch.

As I came outside I had my first glimpse of land.

There were several groups of humpbacks around the ship, each with about 2-3 individuals in the group, then later on a larger group of about 12 appeared. The were very obliging with photo ops.  There were also fur seals and an elephant seal, but it's much harder to get a photo of seals in the water as they move too fast.

I also saw my first penguin. It was dead. Something (probably a leopard seal) had taken a bite out of it and then left the body floating around. Right now we're heading into Dallmann Bay, which is supposed to be a prime spot for whales.