With following seas, we continued east towards South Georgia Island today. The weather was mild, and westerly winds nudged us along. We observed birdlife everywhere. Nineteen species of seabird were spotted from the bridge, including many wandering and royal albatrosses, prions of various species, and many petrels, including giant and soft-plumaged ones to name a couple.

By early afternoon, the remote, rocky outcroppings of Shag Rocks were in view, including thousands of the blue-eyed and rock shags that give this island its name. These cormorant relatives nest on this craggy outpost in such profusion that the greenschist bedrock is coated in white from their excrement.

Soft, filtered light graced Shag Rocks in the early afternoon, and a stratified cloudbank left a tiny gap on the horizon. It was just wide enough to allow the last rays of sunlight to filter through for the day’s grand finale.