10 July - Thursday

We've been steaming around a grid pattern since dawn. I was the lucky one whose shift meant I got a lie-in, while Adam and Mark had to start at dawn. We haven't seen much so far, apart from a sooty shearwater (perhaps the one we saw the other day?). We've been working over the top of the Jones Bank, which in theory should be a quieter area.



We've been followed by a flock of lesser black-backed gulls, using the wind to glide continuously and effortlessly above and slightly ahead of our bird boxes. I see the least flattering view of them from the bird box and am reminded that we're sat in a precarious position. But they're good birds, and know that I've dedicated my life to saving them from the evil things that humans do to seagulls. Surely they wouldn't aim a cheap shot at me?