Today was our second full day at sea in transit from the Canary Islands to the Cape Verde Islands. We spent the day with lectures, bird watching and swimming in the pool. We saw thousands of flying fish from the foredeck and several birds including a swallow far off course. In the late afternoon we encountered a pod of perhaps six beaked whales splashing on the surface. This was a very unusual sighting because they are typically only seen for a short time at the surface, quite inactive before they make one of their deep feeding dives. Through the afternoon the crew were busy cleaning and checking our kayaks in anticipation of a possible kayak crossing of the equator later in the voyage. The weather is delightful, about 85 degrees and clear, and the day was a very relaxing one as we prepared for tomorrow’s visit to the island of Santiago.