We have 750 km, or 405 nautical. miles to cover to reach Campbell Island, which will take roughly 40 hours. Today is a ‘sea’ day, with the albatrosses and a few prions the only company for Le Soleal. The swell makes spotting any whales impossible, although the occasional seal pops its head up to check out the ship going past.
As we near Campbell Island, the distinctive Campbell albatross (also known as the Campbell mollymawk) appears. It is distinguished from the black-browed albatross by its yellow eyes, but otherwise looks very much like a black-browed albatross.
Tonight there is another spectacular sunset that seems to go on for hours.
The bad news is that we are sailing into the black storm clouds ahead, which are bringing with them a Force 6 sea, so it looks like it might be a rough night at sea.
Hopefully the weather holds for Campbell Island, as a 7km hike is planned to see the nesting Southern Royal albatrosses. We are expecting to arrive at about 6am with 4.5 hours allowed to undertake an hour’s round trip on zodiacs plus 3.5 hours to complete the hike. With only 650 hours of sunshine annually, it may rain the entire time!
