12th June 2018

We are on an Alaskan Cruise. It’s been days that we’ve been travelling, and being on sea is not what we are used to. Thanks to the size of the cruise ship, it doesn’t sway in the waters too much, but there is this uneasy feeling that remains. Until the morning the seagulls arrive.

They arrive in bunches - flying close to the cruise ship. Some of the travellers start feeding them - we don’t, because we don’t know whether it is safe for them to eat this. The seagulls don’t care. They glide alongside the ship, occasionally diving close to the balcony where the goodies are, snatching the treats and flying away to eat them, before circling back again.

As they get used to the presence of the ship, some of them start coming closer and sitting on the balcony ledge. Or maybe these ones are less agile, and need to pick up the food when stationary.

One of them drops the treat while flying away, and the way he looks at me in anger, feels like he got camera conscious. The seagulls stay with us for a while, flying alongside us, and as we move to newer waters, they begin soaring higher and higher, before finally saying goodbye.

- Sam