Birds, Whales and Al Gore

This is a kittiwake. It lives on the open ocean, mostly far from land.



It was one of the birds we saw almost every day. Whilst it was impressive in flight, it was the fulmar that really caught my attention. I watched one keep station with the ship moving through a choppy sea and into a stiff breeze at about 17 knots. For twenty minutes or more this remarkable bird did not flap its wings, using instead the local air currents created by the wind and sea just above the surface, to perfection.


This is Danny Catt. Ecologist, photographer and teacher, he knows more than a little about the birds and marine mammals of the North Atlantic. His wonderful presentations were a highlight of the cruise. One of his challenges was to tactfully raise the matter of climate change and its dramatic consequences on the ecology of the north, not least on the polar bear which struggles to survive at the edge of its range because of diminishing sea ice. Republicans, for instance, apparently do not accept climate change nor their part in it. It is not rare for some of Danny's audience to walk out at the mention of Al Gore and his film, An Inconvenient Truth.

Danny encouraged us to look out for whales. We saw a pilot and a humpback, but sadly no blue whale was to be seen.

The bird below is a glaucus gull. These birds often escorted the ship into open waters, apparently curious about the passengers and the small fish that are stirred up by the ship's passage.

Greenland

Sailing from Iceland we were ready for three days at sea before making landfall at Saint Johns, Newfoundland. What a pleasant surprise, then, to realise that the ms Eurodam was heading first to the southern tip of Greenland for “scenic cruising”. The Captain prepared us for disappointment should ice and weather conditions (fog) prevent us from entering the sound early the next morning. Ever hopeful your correspondent stumbled out onto the rear deck to be greeted by an iceburg at the entrance to the sound. Undeterred by this icy lump, and by patchy fog the Captain steered the ship into the sound and for the next 4 hours we were treated to extraordinary vistas.

Mr Bergermeister

Alas, I have no images of Mr Burgermeister. He remains a man of mystery, but not without notoriety.

There is a loudspeaker in the bedhead of every cabin (sorry, stateroom) on the ms Eurodam. At 6:12am the Captain used this facility to encouage one Mr Burgermeister to contact him immediately. He didn't, so the Captained asked again at 6:30am. In the meantime the Captain turned the ship around and steamed 44 miles back towards the Faroe Islands to search for this man.

He wasn't found in the water, but somewhere on ship. According to the Captain, Mr Burgermeister was "found" but gave no further information. The ship turned to resume its course to Iceland.

There was not a little speculation on board over the fate of Mr Burgermeister. One of our dining companions that night was an 8 year old girl. She had heard not less that 4 versions, but sadly could only remember one: that he was found drunk somewhere other than his cabin.

Whilst there was no official announcement, the most widely circulated theories were that he either died, or was found drunk in the crews' lodgings on A deck, after a row with his wife. In any case he was apparently put off the ship in Iceland. His wife remained on board, but made no announcement. Some thought that he should be sent the bill for the additional miles steamed. The ship gets 70 feet to the gallon, so this would not be a small amount.

The Ship

The MS Eurodam is big and flash. This must be so because people, including your correspondent, keep taking pictures of her. Here she is at Warnamunde, Germany.

Sylvia was on board, reading.

Deck 3 is the promenade deck. It is for, well, promenading. One promenade around the ship is 500m.

Winchester

Winchester Cathedral is big, really big. It is also wondrous, with amazing fan vaulted ceilings, and stunning stained glass. It is also quite old.

Possibly the most challenging job in the cathedral's community is the chair of the memorials committee.

Tomorrow we fly to Copenhagen to board Eurodam for our cruise. There might be a pause in blogging until we reach New York in late August.

By the seaside

This morning we watched the rugby. I have nothing more to say about that, except that there is still one more game.

After the rugby we went on a family outing to Portsmouth. Amy and Gavin are in Phuket, so they couldn't make it. Ships of all sorts. From the Tudor Mary Rose, HMS Victory, HMS Warrior, to current warships in the harbour. All facinating.

On board the HMS Warrior.

Jane Austen

We went to a lovely little village called Chawton to visit one of Jane Austen's homes. I went inside and it was great to see some of her letters, crockery, books and furniture. There were also samples of the clothing worn. This quilt was made by Jane, her sister and mother. I found it all fascinating. We also saw Chawton house and the local church.