A bright early morning sky greeted me today and so did several albatrosses. The ever-present Black-browed Albatrosses had the company of the Light-mantled ones as well as the tiny Antarctic Prions which are impossible to photograph well.
After breakfast, I was informed that Royal and Wandering Albatrosses had been spotted, so I raced for the front deck, level 7 to the back deck, level 10 only to find out that they had come and gone. This path between the cold and windy front observation deck and the back pool deck is a path I tread dozens of times a day to find these birds. On my next forward march, I stepped into the front deck 7 and within a minute a mostly white albatross with enormous wings comes right to the front of the ship, and I now have a photo of either a Wandering or Royal Albatross at nearly full frame!
Yesterday afternoon we were able to visit the Bridge of this highly sophisticated ship and learn how the hybrid system works. The diesel engines are actually similar to trains and are really diesel-electric. The diesel engines create power that is stored in batteries and then used to drive the propellers. Extra power is stored and used There are several side thrusters that allow the ship to turn or stay in place. The entire ship is run by complicated programs that optimize fuel consumption and navigation.
