Mottled Petrel Pterodroma inexpectata in the Drake Passage, South Atlantic, March 2008

Abstract

The ‘Atlantic Odyssey’ is the annual reposi- tioning trip of the Professor Molchanov, a small Expedition Cruise ship that spends the austral summer in Antarctic waters and the northern summer in the Arctic. For enthusiasts of seabirds, cetaceans, islands, and photography, the voyage from Ushuaia in Argentina south to the Antarctic Peninsula, and thence north to Cape Verde via South Georgia, the Tristan da Cunha group, St Helena, and Ascension Island provides a superb opportunity to view marine life across 70 degrees of latitude. On the morning of 11 March 2008, we were heading south on our second day in the Drake Passage, with a moderate northwest wind, two-metre swell, high thin overcast skies, and excellent visibility. At 11.20 hours (ship’s time, position 60o17’S 69o44’W) we were observing from the sun deck above the bridge when a medium-sized petrel flew close across the bow from east to west. Similar sized seabirds seen that morning were Cape Petrel Daption capense, Antarctic Prion Pachyptila desolata, Thin-billed Prion P. belcheri, and Soft- plumaged Petrel Pterodroma mollis.