A warm and cosy night... and quiet. Until about 10.30pm when the penguins started up. Two little penguins near my tent had an animated discussion while the prions chattered away on their nests. What a great sound to fall asleep to. It dawned overcast and rainy. So we put off any work until the weather was a bit kinder. Mid morning we were in north colony checking for breeding success. I was recorder of information again as Kris walked through the colony and Julie chased the Golden Poo. Once again an amazing experience walking amongst the albatross and seeing the chicks at close range. By midday we were done so we sat watching for fresh poo for Julie. There is an art to watching for a bird to poo. They stand up, shake a tail feather then shoot a poo out. Julie nearly got a trifecta, both parents and chick. She is researching the DNA in the faeces of the Shy Albatross. Julie analyzes the poo to find out what the albatross are eating and can even work out specific species of fish eaten through the DNA.


Albatross Island 2016 Day 5 : 09-12-2016
Dodging vomit and poo
The weather was rainy in the morning but fining up for the afternoon. 35 knot winds - hair is a mess!
After lunch we headed back to South Colony. Hmm the projectile vomit, have I told you about that yet? I saw it today and was glad I was not within range. As a defence mechanism the chicks will snap their beak and make quite a noise. If this fails in scaring off the intruder (us) chicks can vomit a mixture of food and oil at a would be predator. Apparently it stinks and is hard to wash out. I might steer clear.









- Why might the Shy Albstross have black lines over their eyes?
- Senecio
- Wet and windy but sunshine not to far away.
- In a high wind the albatross will all face the same direction, into the wind.