The day began early with several options for the passengers of National Geographic Orion to explore the jewel of the Auckland Islands, Enderby Island. Long walkers left early for the sea lion-covered beach to begin a coastal walk of 10 kilometers covering much of the eastern side of the island. The morning wind and rain quickly gave way to beautiful weather for much of the day.
Enderby Island is pest-free and has a spectacular array of wildlife, including the rarest penguin in the world, the yellow-eyed penguin, which was seen in abundance. We also saw many magnificent New Zealand sea lion bulls that were sunbathing and fighting on the beach. The eagle-eyed among the group saw the endemic and rare Auckland Island teal and snipe which are two species that have been brought back from the brink of extinction.
In the evening, dinner was moved until later, and a sunset Zodiac cruise through Musgrave Inlet became a highlight. We were able to Zodiac into deep, dark sea caves as well as one particularly spectacular collapsed sea cave. On the other side of the harbor, we cruised through floating kelp to see the first of the nesting rockhopper penguins. This meant it was the third species of penguin to be seen during this voyage!
