10 Apr 2019

Black-footed Albatross and Short-tailed Shearwater

Dawn saw us cruising past Haha-jima en route to Chichi-jima to clear customs for Japan. Large numbers of what were believed to be Matsudaira's Storm-petrels were moving in the half light about Spirit of Enderby and it wasn't long before our first northern albatross species was spotted, the first of several Black-footed Albatross for the day. Our early morning encounters continued with short-beaked Common Dolphins riding our bow and Short-finned Pilot Whales, Bottlenose Dolphins and several Humpback Whales also seen. Even the calm water of Chichi-jima harbour proved fruitful with Japanese Buzzards and a Grey-faced Buzzard spotted as well as several Green Turtles swimming around the ship.

Customs cleared we were welcomed back into the open water by the spectacular display of a pod of Humpback Whales breaching and blowing ahead of us. Not to be outdone, a handful of Black-footed Albatross also put on a show with their aerial antics and two hours before nightfall we added the Short-tailed Shearwater to the trip list with three flashing past and signalling the end of an eventful day's expedition.