Tim writes: this is the rare white morph of the Southern Giant Petrel (Macronectes giganteus). I have tried and failed to find out how rare this white morph is, but I have only seen about 6 during two trips to Antarctica, whereas I have seen thousands of brown ones. Usually white morph birds have a few scattered black feathers, like an ermine cloak, but this one is particularly pure. I also noticed that this white bird has a dark eye, whereas the typical dark bird to the right has a pale eye. The white form is sometimes known as White Nellie. They are the largest species of petrel along with their close relative, the Northern Giant Petrel. The bird on the right is a Northern, identified by that slightly darker red tip to the bill. Both species can have a wingspan that exceeds 2m which is only slightly shorter than the smaller albatrosses.
They range over the southern ocean, nesting on islands like South Georgia where I photographed these. They take a long time to reach maturity and don’t usually start breeding until they are ten years old. They are largely scavengers but will also predate weak creatures. However, they also feed behind long-line trawlers so are susceptible to drowning like the albatrosses. I took this photograph at Cooper Bay on South Georgia from a Zodiac, which is how I managed such a low point of view.
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Wow! I now understand how lucky I was to get a couple of pictures of one recently!