Almost on the dot of noon yesterday we began to cross the
and almost immediately started picking up on
small
clumps of sea-weed that rapidly increased in number but not in size. Up
to that point all that had been reported, but not seen by myself, was
what was described as a 'huge' Ray along with a few Flying Fish.
The latter also began appearing in good numbers, so much so that even I saw some, but the little critters
are not only fleet of wing but almost impossible to photograph.
The
'Splash Zone'. For quite a while after this nothing was see except that
already mentioned, with the daily workings of the ship carrying on as
normal with the
STAFF CAPTAIN carrying out his normal early morning rounds,
a 'full arch' RAINBOW appearing in the cloudy and rain bearing sky
as TOTO the Chef carried another of Carmen Miranda's hats to the Dining Room.
Then out of the blue there was a dark shape following our wake and most definitely a BIRD!
On
both of the last 2 days we have drawn a complete BLANK on bird-life, a
seemingly impossible feat, (when was the last time you didn't see one
bird at all during the course of a day?).
Anywaythis one seemed to be getting closer
and over the following 10 minutes or so became quite obliging for those of us perched 30 feet or so above the sea's surface.
Having
rattled off these shots and given it a good looking at, I scurried down
to the Dawson's cabin but fortuitously met Brian at the foot of the
first flight of stairs.
Together
we quickly returned to the port quarter, only to find that the bird had
vanished and to discover Shelagh, some way above us on 7 deck, had been
watching the full performance.
So, you've all had time to dust off your Seabirds Field Guide
and hope your identification matches mine as a
