Land Ahead

We have sailed overnight from the West Falkland island of New Island. We made a wet landing on the lea side of a ship wrecked nineteenth century wooden sealer on New Island in the early afternoon.



The wind was howling as we began our hike uphill across the island. The wind whipped sand and black dust stung our faces as we hiked into the stiffening breeze. At times we were forced to stop walking and simply lean into the wind to avoid being knocked down. We hiked up a wide grassy valley flanked by two large hills. The grass was thick and lush and full of upland geese. The geese looked like weather vanes pointed dead into the wind. The trail led to a rocky promitory overlooking the South Atlantic that serves as a rookery for rock hopper penguins, black browsed albatross, and shags.






The wind became violent as we approached the cliffs. Feathers from all the birds and the molting penguins swirled everywhere. The constant winds were reinforced with gusts over 70 miles per hour. We were forced to sit down in order to steady our cameras.

The skuas would pair up and hover stationary just over the nests of shags and penguins. One skua would distract the parent allowing the second to swoop down and attempt to force the chick over the cliff. The drama was repeated all along the edge of the rookery. The neighboring birds would ignore the life and death saga occurring within feet or, in some cases, inches as a chick would struggle for life. The albatross are the main attraction in the rookery and are amazing to watch. They would struggle against the wind to the cliff edge and, at just the right condition, would launch themselves into space. The wind would carry them screaming back above the cliff edge where they would remain stationary in the air above our heads before wheeling into the wind and out to sea. The landings were dramatic. The albatross, upon return from feeding in the ocean, would hover above their nest before flaring out in an attempt to reach terra firma only to be blown back into the air. They would circle back over the Atlantic and repeat the attempted landing. This often took multiple attempts.



The shags were more comical to observe. They would drop in and attempt to hover using their large webbed feet as air brakes and flaps. Their feet would be all askew with wings contorted in opposite directions in an attempt to safely negotiate a landing. Their success rate was even less than the majestic albatross.

We are just now rounding the Cape of Good Success and should be docked in Ushuaia this afternoon. We are surrounded by Black Browed Albatross and Giant Southern Petrels. They have escorted us through the night from the Falklands.

Tomorrow we have a charter flight to Buenos Aires and a ten o'clock flight to Houston that evening.



The albatross is on the right with the petrel in front.


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Location:Lemaire Straits