Photo of Animalia: Kerguelen Petrel (species: Aphrodroma brevirostris)

© Graham Ekins

Kerguelen Petrel, Aphrodroma brevirostris, Pterodroma brevirostris,

This fast moving species would not follow the ship, its fast arcing flight was noted as they quickly over took the ship. It took me a while before a bird came close enough to get this shot. We saw them from just north of South Shetlands until Tristan da Cunha. They were most frequently single bird sightings. They nest on Gough and the Tristan da Cunha group east to Kerguelen Island.

Photo taken on 7 Apr 2011