At the start of April I spent a couple of weeks on the Falkland Islands – they are a wildlife haven, with many penguin colonies, and also the largest black-browed albatross colony in the world, at around 113,000 breeding pairs.
The plight of the albatross receives a high profile on the islands, with the local newspaper regularly reporting on efforts to preserve the population.
By April it was already getting warmer outside, which felt wonderful after over a year in the cold while I was working at the Halley Research Station in the Antarctic! Standing on the deck watching the world go by is much more enticing than it was further south.
We left the fog-shrouded Falklands and were soon rewarded with the sight of hundreds of black-browed albatrosses following the ship. We couldn’t have asked for a better send-off as they heralded us out of the southern ocean on our way to warmer climes. Those of us lucky enough to see them are left with a striking image of these impressive birds.
It’s now May and my journey is coming to an end now, as we enter the English Channel. It’s been an amazing experience travelling the length of the Atlantic, from the Antarctic through the Tropics.
During the first part of the journey, albatrosses accompanied us, and as we headed towards the Equator they were replaced by boobies and frigatebirds. North of the Equator, we saw a red-billed tropicbird between South America and the Azores – we were all amazed at how far it must have travelled to reach us. Yesterday we were followed by three swallows, presumably on their migration from north Africa to Britain.
I’m very excited about seeing my family again after 18 months away, but also very lucky to be going back to South Georgia at the end of the year once again.