Birds scatter across the surface of the water as the ship plows ahead. Most of the early sighting were Rhinoceros auklets.
Traveling alone or in small groups they would bolt up from the surface. It was a chore to get use to holding this rented monster of a lens and getting acquainted with its functions so the early shots were not the best. However, shooting photos of tiny, skittering birds from 6 stories up is not all that easy!
Larger birds appeared as we headed farther into open water. A few Short-tailed Shearwater but most were Sooty Shearwater.
Still looking for a good view but almost all were taking off directly away from this floating building. Light was getting better, at least.
Finally, a bird that strikes a pose!
Not only birds skipping across the water. A few mammals were out there skimming the surface. So fast that they looked like small eruptions. A pod of Dall Porpoise approached the vessel and this was as far as they came out of the water.
As we strolled the observation deck at the tail-end of the ship, someone gave out a yell. Our first Humpbacked Whale sighting! The animal surfaced a few times, rolled over and dove beneath the waves.
As we began to reach the open water earlier, I spotted one more bird far off in the distance. Once home, I processed the photos and could make out that this was a Red-throated Loon. I got a slightly better photo of one in Winter plumage 5 years ago but it is still nice to add a new bird for this trip.
All this excitement. Time to head up to the Crow's Nest and enjoy the Drink of the Day. Don't even remember the name of this one. They were all themes and several would end up this shade of blue representing the upcoming Glaciers.
This post is long enough for now. Time to sort more photos.
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