Sunday 6th March; 7th day at sea

This was an entire day at sea as we headed for the South Orkney Islands through the Scotia Sea. The sea was still fairly calm, but there was a stiff headwind, which gave us a bit of a roll. There was still plenty of wildlife to be spotted; Cape Petrels (aka Pintados – a really beautiful bird), a Fulmar and a Light Mantled Sooty Albatross in the morning. In the afternoon there must have been more excitement on the bridge as a group of blue whales, possibly around eight or nine, were spotted and the ship went off its course to get a better look at them. A couple surfaced just beside and ahead of the ship, but getting photos of them was rather tricky as you didn’t know where they were going to be. Using binoculars was tricky for the same reason, so you generally got a better view of them with your own eyes, but without the detail. Blue whales, having been very heavily hunted in the past, are now quite rare, so seeing this many in one group isn’t at all common. Some estimates are that there are only about a thousand in the whole of the Antarctic.

There were still icebergs around us but these thinned out a little throughout the day. I don’t think I was affected by the sea very much, as I can remember the whales, and also the afternoon lecture on the history of whaling.