Day 9: Tuesday 19 August, Day 2 out from Raoul

Juvenile Kermadec booby pictured in flight.

Sailed into the dawn on my watch, just a slight brightening of the sky at about 5.30, then a salmon pink dawn. Wind began to drop and for part of the day just fluctuated around 5 knots. Perfect for listening for whales! We dropped the spinnaker and headed up into the wind. Over the side with the hydrophone.  A loan moaning indicated humpback whale song from some distance away. Other sounds were less distinctive and will require expert interpretation when we return. No whales spotted on the surface.

 Lunch of home made pizza and banana cake courtesy of Karlos.

Birds continue to keep us interested – our first new one for a while a soft plumaged petrel, which is a bit of a surprise, for this region. The field guide suggests they are rare in the South Pacific Ocean. I was surprised also to see Wandering albatross– also quite far north at 28 degrees but they do wander up to the subtropical convergence which can vary. We also saw a NZ sub Antarctic Pintado petrel or Cape pigeon as it is more commonly known, and a juvenile Kermadec booby. Interesting to see the booby this far out from the Kermadec Islands, about 150 nm (277 km),  indicating they make good use of pretty much the whole NZ EEZ and possibly even further. I can’t help wondering  where the adults go, as we haven’t seen many of them.

By nightfall the sea was flat, almost oily at times and we were sailing into a head wind, so only making 1-2 knots with the motor off, so I put the hydrophone in again. Once again low moans of distant humpback whales and other sounds clicks and buzzes – possibly beaked whales ?? but again will require expert analysis when we get back.