Our first of three full days at sea found us heading southeast in blustery conditions towards Brazil and the port of Belem. We were over very deep water for the whole of the first day – there is nothing more frustrating as a cetacean enthusiast than a combination of deep water and a lot of white water as the few whales and dolphins which call the deep-sea home are often elusive and difficult to spot at the best of times. This led to a frustrating day in terms of cetacean sightings, but the many thousands of flying fish and a posse of up to 21 MASKED BOOBY accompanying the ship saved the day! Watching these aerial acrobats twisting and plunging after the fish time and time again (to varying degrees of success) was an absolute delight. It is rare that you get the opportunity to study seabird behaviour away from a breeding colony so it was an absolute privilege to be able to watch this group all day and start to understand the subtle changes in body language as the birds were about to dive and try to anticipate them in an attempt to get that elusive diving photograph! There is something so very special about standing eyeball to eyeball with these ocean masters as they glide by with so little effort – you always have to love a seabird that interacts with a ship!
With the hope of shallower water and a better day than yesterday, it was disappointing to find similar weather conditions to hamper viewing on day 2 – at least it was warm on deck! Three MASKED BOOBY were still in attendance early morning, but these soon veered off and we lost our aerial friends. Mid-morning, a lone dolphin frustrating leapt high out of the water once at distance as if about to race in towards the ship – only to never be seen again! It was also incredibly quiet for seabirds with just a handful of MANX SHEARWATER, LEACH’S PETREL and a probable GREAT SHEARWATER seen.
We finally admitted defeat with the spray after wiping optics down for what felt like the hundredth time and moved to the stern to sit and observe. Our patience was finally rewarded at around 4pm when a small group of five BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN raced into the bow out of nowhere to play. I can’t deny it was a trying and tiring day!
It has to be said that things didn’t really improve in terms of sightings on day 3 either! Weather conditions were still challenging and the introduction of heavy rain showers kept us on our toes. An early sighting of eight BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN hinted at an improved day, but we then had to wait until mid-morning before another small group of three BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN half-heartedly came into the bow. A very heavy rain shower quickly cleared the decks for a time, but not before we had experienced a dramatic and almost instant drop in temperature of around 5 degrees before the rain hit. My second lecture was perfectly timed to make the most of this break in the weather – it’s always a worry that something unusual will appear outside whilst I am presenting and sure enough, this time we missed the only RED-FOOTED BOOBY of the cruise!
A difficult three days in terms of wildlife viewing, but the promise of so much more to come as tomorrow we get our first views of the mighty Amazon River! Do come back to read more……
Wildlife, Wild Sea.... 