Friday 18 January
This morning our group went out first to Salisbury Plain. More king penguins than you can poke a stick at, in varying degrees of maturity, eggs, brown fluffy chicks, moulting chicks, and parents. We saw a white penguin but did not get a chance to photograph it, managed a black one on the return to the zodiac. I watched a giant petrel swoop down amongst them, but did not see it leave. I was hoping for a picture of it carting its dinner away. Fur seals of all ages, even mothers with their babies suckling. They make a fair noise if you get too close. The elephant seals are huge, scary even if they don’t move all that fast. We saw a giant petrel nesting with her young. After nearly 2 hours wandering around the colony, avoiding the seals, we took to the zodiacs and cruised along the beach. There were penguins and seals swimming quite close to the boat. The birds were quite amazing to watch, giant petrels ripping their prey to pieces, and some smaller birds virtually dancing on the water. The wind had picked up for the ride back to the boat, so I was rather pleased to have my custom made balaclava. (Extremely bumpy ride back)
The afternoon at Prion Island. Nesting giant petrels and albatrosses. Saw some courting dances. There was a very friendly young seal who wanted to follow Ewen home. Good close up shot of a giant petrel. Grey and white penguin. (really just juvenile penguins before their final moulting)