One day out from Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades) we’re sailing along and the day being beautiful I was out on the balcony soaking up some sun; just watching the bow wake. I’ve been seeing flying fish again so can confirm that they inhabit the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans. They may be in other waters we’ve passed through but I did not see them or have the opportunity to go out due to weather or our being in port.
All of a sudden, a bird started to follow the bow wake gliding/flying right near my cabin. Got the camera and the first photo shows the best shot I got of the bird. Was informed later that it is a Gannet. These are sea birds that are mostly white with black-tip wings and a long head with a distinct shape. Fascinating bird. (At trivia, later in the day, I learned that one of the trivia partners also caught the bird in a photo; apparently it was sitting on the light at the bow of the ship and she just happened to see it there.)
Then something really interesting happened…
A flying fish started to fly as the bow wake approached it. The Gannet saw it and immediately changed course and ended up with a late lunch. I have a photo (#2) of the catch but unfortunately you can’t see the fish in the picture. I’ve included it anyhow as it at least confirms that the bird went after the fish.
Tomorrow we make port in Fort Lauderdale and about half the people on the ship will be leaving as they have completed their world cruise after starting in Fort Lauderdale. Those of us left will keep going to Los Angeles to finish our world cruise. Of course, we’ll get a bunch of new folks taking the Panama Canal portion of the world cruise.
I have no excursions scheduled for Fort Lauderdale. Not certain what I’ll be doing except maybe going for a short walk.