Today the wide waters of the Pacific and the skies above, streaked with torn pennants of cloud, enclosed the Caledonian Star in a sphere of ocean and atmosphere while we cruised north along the coast of South America. At five degrees South latitude, only three hundred miles below the equator, the day was hot and sultry despite the sea breezes, a taste of things to come as we leave the cold waters of the Humboldt current and the coastal desert of Peru behind us. We observed changes in the birds winging over the waters around us, Markham's Storm-Petrels, many more Blue-footed Boobies and the first frigatebird of the voyage, which reminded us that we will soon be entering a very different ecoregion where tropical forests line the beaches and brightly-colored fishes flit through the corals below the waves.

The most spectacular sighting of the day came as the sun was beginning to lower in the western sky, when a group of nearly five hundred Common Dolphins crossed our bow, leaping, splashing and diving through the whitecaps and wavelets on the sea's surface. The officers on watch maneuvered the ship to keep us with them for a short time, while we all marveled at the perfect athletic grace and sweet exuberance of these wild and beautiful sea creatures. Finally, our paths diverged again, the dolphins drawn away by the subtle cues and ancient drives which call them across the waves, while we returned to our northward course, steaming ever closer to the very heart of the tropics. The sunset fared beautifully, briefly, before the swift approach of the tropical night sent us indoors for a glass of wine and the companionship of our fellow travelers.