Natural wonders

April 20 

On our continued sea voyage to the Canary Islands (we will arrive tomorrow morning), the captain altered our course a bit to go near a sea mount. A sea mount is just what it sounds like—- a mountain (usually volcanic) that arises from the sea floor but doesn’t quite break the surface of the ocean to become an island. In this case the ocean floor is at about 4500 meters, but the top of the sea mount was at 150 meters. Often nutrients “upswell” at such features which then increases the prevalence of marine species. As it turned out, we didn’t see anything at that location. 

But later in the morning, we saw a number of “blows” from whales both in front of the ship and on both the port and starboard horizons.  At one point we saw a cetacean leap out of the water in the distance. It was unclear whether the creature was a whale or a dolphin, although its large size (at that distance) suggested a whale. Fortunately the trip photographer and some of the naturalists were able to photograph it. It was a Gervais Beaked Whale, which are uncommon in these waters. The naturalists helped identify the distant blows as from Sperm Whales. It was a Sei Whale (about 15 meters long) that briefly surfaced in front of the ship.   Later in the morning we had a mix of Common Bottlenose, Atlantic Spotted and Clymene Dolphins play around the ship, frequently “bow running” for about 15 minutes. Three different species of whales and another three dolphins was exhilarating, and it was great that so many of our shipmates got to share in the sightings.

This afternoon we had a tour of the physical systems of the ship, including the engine room, the propulsion room, and the bow thruster room. The Endurance is a remarkable expedition machine, including its rating as an ice breaker. 

After our tour several of us went on deck to watch for additional wildlife.  We spotted a Bulwer’s Petrel. This bird sighting was the 6500th bird species on the life list of one of our shipmates! As a reference, we are pleased to have gotten to 2,000 ourselves… but he has been dedicated to this hobby for many more years. We also saw a flock of eleven Whimbrels. We have no idea what these shorebirds were doing out in the middle of the deep ocean. Just before we headed in for dinner, we saw a Green Sea Turtle. It was quite a day. 

Finally, this evening after dinner, we saw the “green flash” that only happens with a sunset over a calm sea with a clear sky. We honestly didn’t think the phenomenon really existed until tonight. 

Pictured: Sei Whale, Clymene Dolphin bow-running, Bulwer’s Petrel