For some of us, the main attraction of the sea days was peering over the back of the boat, and enjoying the bird life. In the Beagle Channel, we had flocks of South American Terns; at the speed which they move, photographs tend to become mere abstract shapes:
The most assiduous ship-followers were the impressively-beaked Giant Petrels, which glided past us almost within touching distance. Northern Giant Petrel with a red nose:
And the Southern Giant Petrel with a green nose. The dark plumage shows this is a juvenile: 
The other most common companion was the Cape Petrel, which has lovely chequered wings from above:
Further south, we started to get fulmars:
And the lovely little prions, which I’d never heard of. They flutter all over the Southern Ocean like swifts:
The most elegant were of course the albatrosses. The most commonly-seen were the Black-browed Albatrosses (of which much more soon):
We also had the Grey-headed Albatross:
Light-mantled Sooty Albatross:
And the biggest of all, the Wandering Albatross:
The most ridiculously beautiful, however, must be the Snow Petrel:
