Day 11 — October 11
Ducie Atoll, Pitcairn  A new morning found us beside another beautiful coral beach, this time at Ducie. Whereas Henderson is an uplifted coral island, Ducie is a much smaller atoll, not nearly as high above sea level. While Henderson has tall palms and other trees, on Ducie we saw only low-growing shrubs and bushes.
Even before we stepped ashore, it was readily apparent that the birdlife on this atoll was outstanding, with the highest concentrations we had seen on any island thus far. Throngs of Murphy's petrels, as well as masked boobies and white fairy terns, swooped and soared over us. Murphy's petrels were even nesting within the bushes just above the beach, and at times we caught a glimpse of chicks through the vegetation, being especially careful to keep a suitable distance and not disturb them. One passenger described the Murphy's petrel chicks as looking like a 'small, fuzzy football.'
As the area we could roam was restricted today due to the nesting birds, we confined ourselves to the rocky beach, taking walks with our naturalists. Although the island has no endemic birds, it certainly made up for it in the sheer quantity of petrels and terns we saw in flight. Some of us passed by a solitary immature masked booby sitting on the beach. Enjoying the ocean view and the sea life on the beach, we spent a couple of quality hours on this remote atoll.
Everyone was back on board by 1030, so we could get our activities in the water underway. Almost everyone had the opportunity to take a look undersea today, whether by snorkel, scuba, or glass-bottom boat. Of course, after hearing Jack Grove 's lecture the other day, everybody wanted a look at the remains of the Acadia, and, sure enough, we got a glimpse. Our divers and snorkelers once again had unbelievably excellent visibility in excess of 200 feet. Despite a slight chop, snorkelers could see abundant coral. Divers also saw a wonderful coral garden in bloom around the Acadia, as well as the ship's remaining anchors and windlass.
Before we knew it, it was time to hoist anchor and turn toward our final destination: Easter Island. It was hard to believe that we had only one more stop on our itinerary, even if it would take two-and-a-half days to arrive there. As we started our final 848-mile leg of this voyage, our lecturers filled the afternoon with more entertaining presentations. Juan Jose Ap'stegui was first at bat, showing us the strange and wonderful ways of Seabirds. With images to accompany his lecture, J.J. described the eating, breeding, and mating habits of many seabird species. He then turned over the microphone to Kevin Clement, who discussed the revolutionary ideas of Charles Darwin in Darwin in Paradise: How Natural Selection Evolved on Islands, and gave an idea of just how controversial and blasphemous Darwin's theories were when first published.
As the Clipper Odyssey continued on its way, this evening we enjoyed another wonderful recap and dinner.
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