Page 62 - 2008 NZ Subantarctic Islands

the sun burst out of the heavy clouds and blue sky won the field.

While our clothes steamed in the drying sunlight, we continued to
look in amazement and awe at beautiful Snare’s Island. How

wonderful it is that DOC has been able to keep this island pristine
and entirely inhabited by only native wildlife and plants!

The finale to our visit “to” but not “on” this special island was as
exciting and moving as the day of coastal explorations had proved
to be. Every

night while they
are on Snare’s

Island for
breeding, the

sooty
shearwaters

settle on the
ocean surface
about a mile

from shore. We
could watch

them as they flew in and joined the ever-increasing throng of
rafting birds. The birds were so numerous that they created highly

visible black lines on the horizon! When something spooked them
and they all lifted off into the sky, the black cloud they created

was so dense we could not see blue sky beyond them. It seemed
like we were seeing the mass exodus of millions of bats from
Carlsbad Caverns every evening or like seeing the “great

migration” of wildebeest and zebra on the Serengeti Plain. The
participating animals are uncountable! We motored out beyond

where the Clipper Odyssey was anchored in order to be among
the birds and it was a magnificent and awe-inspiring experience.

The mundane explanation for this extraordinary show is self-
defense. When flying back to shore in such huge numbers, the

individual birds are protected from predatory birds like skua and
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