Penguins Day 11 - Thursday 16th May

Our last day working on the project :(  The day dawned dull and misty as yesterday, and sleep had been interrupted by the fog horn across the bay sounding every few minutes, so it was a bit of a subdued start. Our normal 8:30 am start was delayed for half an hour or so to see if the weather cleared up. We were doing a moult count in the morning – not much point unless you can see the penguins.

Armed with binoculars we set off just after 9:00 am. David and I accompanied Katta on the route from the bottom end of the island to the harbour then along Sandy Beach. It was pretty miserable, but like yesterday it was also quite warm once you got walking.  There weren’t many penguins about either … probably all having a lie in too whilst the weather was so poor!  Then all of a sudden we came across a group of penguins, and two of them were copulating (sorry, no photo!).  I did however take a picture of the beautiful iridescent abalone shells which are found all over the beach here (sadly also now endangered due to over harvesting), and the pretty chukar partridge that I am sure Geoff would love to shoot! 

Much of the rest of the day was spent cleaning the house and packing our bags. There was some talk of getting the 6:30 am staff ferry back to the mainland in the morning. Luckily after numerous phone calls it seems we will be able to get the 8:15 am instead – so not quite such an early start, but we still need to get all packed up and ready to leave tonight.

In the afternoon Kelley wasn’t feeling so good and Nancy and David wanted to go to the harbour shop, so I went off on a beach clean-up myself, returning to the rocky shore on the bottom edge of the island.  I was on my fourth bag in less than 100 metres when Katta and Richard drew up in the backie.  We filled up the last two bags then drove the rubbish round to the collection site. The amount of rubbish was quite appalling, but with the island being right in the middle of the bay it gets hit on from all sides.
Over a cup of tea I quizzed Richard about how I might be able to come back. Until I finish my degree there are obviously limited opportunities, but there are both internships and volunteering slots at SANCCOB that are definitely worth exploring.

After dinner, I washed up and Kelley and I gave the kitchen another final scrub up. The house is looking rather better than when we arrived.