One for the quiz night

Anastasia
Phil May and Andrea Twigg
Sun 16 Oct 2011 16:50
 
 
35:56.02N 3:02.15W
 
What island sits right in the middle of the Mar de Alboran (at the western end of the Mediterranean)? 
 
Isla de Alboran.  A nature reserve with a lighthouse and a military detachment in residence.  It didn't look worth a visit.
 
As we approached the island we had some big bottle-nosed dolphins performing off the bows.  One part of this performance was to poo while doing a manoeuvre, which looks just like the vapor trial in an air display.  Several of them did this.  Was it just a result of the exertion or excitement, or was it part of a planned routine?
 
Yesterday we got visited by all sorts of birds.  I guess we are quite close to North Africa right now.  One tiny bird was quite insistent that it should spend the night indoors.  Usually a bird will try to stay as far away from you as possible, so a couple of people can easily herd it out of a room.  This one was not afraid of us at all, which made herding impossible.  It would just sit in a corner and then duck past you if you tried to pick it up.  We managed to get it out in the end, and closed the fly screens for a while, but Andrea thinks she saw it sneak back in later and hide somewhere indoors, after it went dark.