Wandering Albatross survey

The end of each month is time for the full-island Wandering Albatross survey. We're each given a map of a section of the island with all the nests marked on it and told to go out and record if they're still there. Some birds need ring numbers reading too.

I headed out to the far east end of Bird Island where there's one bird all alone. We needed ones ring number, but of course it wasn't that bird on the nest. While I sat and contemplated the walk back I was watching hundreds of petrels gathered at sea a lone Southern Right Whale surfaced a few times, feeding in the tidal flow between us an South Georgia. As it dived for the final time it lifted it's tail right out the water.