Entering Carnley Harbour after a night of rough passage from Campbell Island was a relief. Sooty Shearwaters were trading across the entrance en route to their feeding grounds.

Watching the shore of Adams Island slip by in the relative calm was a pleasant change to the heaving deck we had become accustomed to. Adams Island forms the southern shore of Carnley Harbour and the Southern Rata was in flower adding a blush to the vegetation.

The Auckland Islands are home to the Gibson’s subspecies of the Antipodean Albatross. Adam’s Island has remained naturally free of the pigs introduced to the main Auckland Island so is a breeding stronghold for these impressive birds. We were pleased to see a number in flight and one resting on the water.

The taxonomy of these albatross is currently contentious and thus confusing. The classification I have followed above is what is current on New Zealand Birds Online but Peter Harrison’s updated and just released Seabirds – The New Identification Guide lists Gibsons Albatross as a subspecies of Wandering Albatross ( Diomedea exulans gibsoni).

Light-mantled Albatross are always exciting to see and on this morning we had a stunning display from a few individuals. Whenever we spot one the hope is that it will come close enough to the ship for a decent image. In the warm morning light we had a couple of very close fly-bys that had us whooping with excitement.

The relatively still air meant that they were in flapping flight for a lot of the time so not always in their most graceful pose. The delight of the sight more than made up for the limitations on image making.

Seeing these stunning birds at close range in glorious light was one of those special shared experiences. Tracking them as they filled the frame of my viewfinder, eye catchlight clear, will remain a precious memory.

Photos with Nikon D850 and Nikkor 500mm f5.6PF lens