Lunch ended about an hour ago, and shortly after returning to deck Rod let out a tremendous shout. I assumed he had spotted another rare seabird (the man loves his birding) but following his wildly pointing finger revealed a minke whale about a hundred feet away barreling toward the boat. Skimming about a foot beneath the surface the whale was matching our speed, and once within about fifty feet of the boat he began slowly cruising toward the bow, giving a full, clear view of his head and eye each time that he surfaced. Hoping the whale might be planning to ride our bow wave I started running down the decks, but the whale traveled up to our bow wake, hesitated a moment, and then accelerated away and out of sight. It was completely awesome — Rod is probably still up on deck giving high fives.
The other sightings today included the usual cast of seabirds and four hourglass dolphins (at about 6:30 this morning) that played in the wake off of the stern for three or four minutes. Hanging out with the birders I’ve learned most of the common birds through osmosis, and can now identify five species of albatross, several different prions and petrels, and assorted others. In addition to the whale, today’s other big event was that Ted and Linda (ship’s nurse) convinced me that saving money is overrated, so I’ve signed on with Ted for an eight person, one month sailing trip to South Georgia that he’s planning for next October. The practical side of me says that I’m crazy, but the adventurer in me says that a trip like that comes along once in a decade if you’re lucky, and that opportunity doesn’t knock twice.