Today I ended one of my more special trips. Last years Ross Sea trip was very special, but this one definitely comes close. In thirty days, we covered 6700 nautical miles, and went from Ushuaia in Argentina through the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, visiting South Georgia, Gough Island, Tristan da Cunha, St Helena, Ascension Island to Cape Verde, where the trip ended. A lot of islands that are rarely visited, have many endemic species and often special history attatched to them.

Between those islands we spent many days at sea, first with a lot of birdlife in the rich Southern Ocean, later, when the temperature got higher and the seas less rich in nutrients and plankton, there was less to see, but we still had great encounters.

During the next weeks, I’ll sort my pictures and I’ll post many stories of our special encounters. These photos are taken during our approach to Gough Island (near Tristan da Cunha), in very strong winds and gorgeous light. It didn’t look like we would be able to go for a zodiac cruise (landing is not allowed), but it was very spectacular.