Today we anchored off the coast of Tobago and transferred into small local boats for the journey over to the island of Little Tobago. Little Tobago has been designated a bird sanctuary and is home to a number of breeding seabird species, including Audubon's shearwater (pictured) and red-billed tropicbirds.
The Audubon's shearwater nests in burrows underground. Before dawn the parent leaves the nest, spends the day feeding at sea and returns to the nest after dusk.
This particular youngster is probably three weeks old and will return to the same island to nest once it becomes an adult. Shearwaters will spend long periods of time at sea feeding on plankton and small fish, squid. Rarely can one be seen at such close quarters.
