Photo Gallery
Photos by Steve Howell
Cruising the coastline of the lushly wooded Snares Islands, home to endemic subspecies of Tomtits, Fernbirds, and, of course…
…the endemic Snares Crested Penguin, a member of the “crested” or “rockhopper” penguin group, four members of which can be seen on this trip.
Thousands of Sooty Shearwaters swarm like insects offshore of the Snares, one of their main breeding grounds.
A male Hooker’s Sealion (with the bullneck) and his harem on the beach at Enderby Island, including newborn pups being eyed by Brown Skuas.
Brilliantly colored Red-crowned Parakeets are common, terrestrial-feeding inhabitants of Enderby Island’s tussock grassland and…
…the elusive Subantarctic Snipe can usually be found among the megaherbs and other lush vegetation of Enderby Island.
The solitary-nesting Yellow-eyed Penguin is among the wariest of penguins and tends to hurry on by any onlookers…n
…while the flightless Auckland Island Teal is remarkably confiding.
The Auckland Island group is the only breeding site for Gibson’s [Wandering] Albatross; this bird is a male or, perhaps, an older female.
Southern Elephant Seals and King Penguins enchant visitors on the beaches of Macquarie Island, a remote Australian territory.
Macquarie Island is the only breeding site for the Royal Penguin, and birds in the dense-packed colonies get very muddy, quite different from…
…Royal Penguins freshly arrived from the ocean looking bright and clean.
In sunshine, the cool waters of Macquarie take on brilliant blue tones and are home to spectacular beds of lush kelp.
Groups of prions often accompany the ship and offer identification challenges (these are Antarctic Prions) unlike…
…the Light-mantled Sooty Albatross, virtually unmistakable at any angle.
Campbell Albatross is endemic to, as the name suggests, Campbell Island.
A two-kilometer boardwalk allows easy access to the interior of Campbell Island, the main breeding ground for the impressive Southern Royal Albatross, and…
…the views can be spectacular in sunlight.
A close-up of Southern Royal Albatross on its nest…
…and late in the day, small groups of pre-breeding subadult albatrosses gather to display.
The lush vegetation underfoot on Campbell Island includes a variety of bright-flowering megaherbs.
An Antipodean [Wandering] Albatross (adults retain varying degrees of “immature” plumage) heralds our arrival to the remote Antipodes Islands…
…where we cruised along the spectacular cliffs in search of endemic parakeets and penguins.
Our morning arrival at the low-lying Bounty Islands was marked by swarms of Salvin’s Albatrosses, here at the main breeding site, and…
…almost all of the available surfaces on the Bounties were packed with Salvin’s Albatrosses, Erect-crested Penguins, and New Zealand Fur Seals.
It’s called Erect-crested Penguin because…
A bout of chumming with squid on leaving the Bounties brought hundreds of Salvin’s Albatrosses around the ship.
As we headed north towards the Chatham Islands, numbers of the black-winged Northern Royal Albatross started to appear and…
…the very first (ever!) Magenta Petrel to be photographed at sea graced us with its presence south of the Chatham Islands; the total world population is estimated at 100-150 birds.
The aptly named Pyramid Rock, sole breeding site for the handsome Chatham Albatross…
…here a handsome adult with a bright-orange bill and a smoky blue-gray hood.
A beautifully sunny Christmas morning saw us cruising along the shores of lushly vegetated Southeast Island, in the Chatham group, where…
…the striking Shore Plover was readily seen.
Southern Ocean? Some days at sea were remarkably calm, great conditions for seeing whales and dolphins.