As today is one of the world’s two Big Bird Days (one is in May and the other October), we were out on deck early to start recording all the bird species we saw, including everything from a magnificent frigatebird to a lost ruddy turnstone circling the ship.

A day at sea is a time to enjoy all the facilities of National Geographic Explorer, and we had lots of activities on board. We started with our wellness specialist, Tila, who helped us work out all the kinks after our adventures ashore yesterday. Both the bridge and naturalist staff were out looking for all types of wildlife, like the Atlantic flying fish.

We had a series of really interesting presentations, including, ‘Marine Mammals of Northern South America,’ by Carlos Navarro and, ‘Sea Bird Conservation,’ by Santiago Imberti. Our presentations were happily interrupted by a mother and calf humpback whale breaching nearby. We spent a while watching southern humpback whales as they migrate to the Antarctic for this northern winter.

It was quite the day of music, too, as we are lucky enough to have the Brazilian band Almirzanho Gabriel on board for a couple of days. Instead of recap, we enjoyed a short concert out on the sun deck while enjoying the sunset.