We spent the next day in an adjacent area hooning around on sexy black zodiacs chasing wildlife. The zodiacs are stored on the roof of the ship and hoisted down every time they’re needed; it’s a huge task taken care of by the hard-working marina team. They are also responsible for getting us safely on and off the ship - and that can be quite tricky for the geriatrics and others with mobility issues - but they take it in their stride with warmth and kindness. Of course Paul and I have retained our boat licences and are on the water regularly, so we jump on and off like gazelles. Hahahaha. Not with the amount of gear we sometimes take! And actually not that day - there was quite a swell early on so we needed to take care too.
The zodiacs are driven by the naturalists who are a wonderful fun team, so passionate about the ocean and wildlife and history and culture. They come from all over, including France, California, Seychelles, New Caledonia, South Africa, and of course there are several Aussies. Like other areas of the ship, there are a number of relationships and Ponant tries to enable couples to work together. A happy crew tends to be mean happy passengers so it’s smart business.
Our driver that day was Jakawan (pictured below), a former lecturer at the Seychelles Maritime Academy, who’s had a very diverse and interesting career subsequently before he joined Ponant.
From the water we saw whales, turtles, dolphins, and a large variety of birds. The Montebellos are designated as an Important Bird Area, and we saw heaps of cormorants, ospreys, greater crested terns, Caspian terns, and others that I can’t remember. While I appreciate their beauty, I’m no expert but several of our zodiac buddies knew a lot and were quite excited when they spotted certain species.
The Montebellos are also notable as the site of three nuclear weapons tests in the 1950s, thanks to our British parentage. Funny (not) how the Poms didn’t experiment on their own islands.
That afternoon lots of whales rolled by as they headed north. We opted to stay on the ship to watch from up high. The pool deck made a much better lookout, not to mention it was more comfortable, and Eva from the pool bar regularly served us cocktails to assist with our comfort.
Most of you will appreciate how difficult it is to get a decent photo of the whales as they frolic and breach (particularly if they’re a distance from the ship), and even more impossible when you’re using your phone! In the end I gave up trying and just enjoyed watching them play as they passed, and the amazing photos above and below are courtesy of Joe Winfield, an experienced wildlife photographer with a huge lens who was hanging with us on the pool deck. Thanks again Joe, you’re a good sport to share these.
A random helicopter appeared from nowhere and circled the ship a couple of times. Its flight track indicates it was up from Exmouth (and we all know what goes on there) and its destination looked to be Alpha Island, but doesn’t show any return on that day…the mystery deepens. Alpha island hosted the Mosaic G2 nuclear test in 1956, and the advisory suggests limiting visits there to an hour a day. But probably just wealthy fishermen, right?
