A single individual was recorded north of Orkney Island. There is no photographic record but diagnostic features were noted, including its distinctive whitish forehead and crown and upper and lower yellow bill, which is sharper than that of the grey-headed albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma) or the Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross (Thalassarche chlororhynchos). Buller's albatross is endemic to New Zealand (Stahl et al. 1998) and is distributed in subtropical and sub-Antarctic waters of the South Pacific Ocean (Onley & Scofield 2007), reaching the west coast of Chile. There are two subspecies: the southern Buller's albatross: T. b. bulleri and northern Buller's albatross (T. b. platei). We were not able to identify which of the two subspecies the observed individual belonged to, but the subspecies’ known distribution and migratory habits make it likely that the individual recorded was T. b. platei. This is the first record of the Buller's albatross for the Atlantic region of the Southern Ocean.

A total of 45 Atlantic petrel individuals were recorded, most of them in the Drake Passage and north of the South Shetland Islands. In summer 1990, a flock of five individuals was recorded in the Weddell Sea, at 65°12′S, 41°05′W (Orgeira 1997, 2001), the southernmost record obtained for this species (Fig. 1a). In summer 2001, 24 individuals were observed in the Drake Passage between 56 and 59°S and seven near the South Shetland Islands (Orgeira 2001). During the austral summer 2009, another 17 individuals were recorded, eight in Antarctica and the rest in the Drake Passage and south of Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados (Orgeira in press). According to our records, most Atlantic petrel observations occurred when winds were blowing from the north–west, which would be utilized for dispersal to higher latitudes, so it is possible that these individuals belong to the South Atlantic Ocean population. The Atlantic petrel is distributed in the South Atlantic Ocean north of 55°S (Watson 1975; Clark 1986; Harrison 1987; del Hoyo et al. 1992; Narosky & Izurieta 2003, 2004; Chébez 2008 ; Rodríguez Mata et al. 2006 ; Onley & Scofield 2007), so all individuals reported in this article and those reported by Orgeira (1997, 2001, in press) and Montalti et al. 1999 were observed outside the accepted pelagic range of this species in the literature cited above.

A total of 73 pale-phase soft-plumaged petrels were observed, most of them in Drake Passage (Fig. 1b). In all cases, they were seen flying about 10–15 m a.s.l. In March 1990, 45 individuals were recorded near the South Shetland Islands (Montalti et al. 1999). According to the literature, the soft-plumaged petrel is normally distributed in the south-west Pacific, South Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean as far as 55°S (del Hoyo et al. 1992; Rodríguez Mata et al. 2006; Onley & Scofield 2007). However, our observations match those reported by Woods (1988) and Montalti et al. (1999), who have reported them up to 60°S (Fig. 2).

One individual was recorded in the austral summer 2010 in the Drake Passage and two were recorded in the Antarctic, in the austral summer 2012, one east of Clarence Island, South Shetland Islands and the other south of the South Orkney Islands (Fig. 1c). When the first individual was recorded in the Antarctic, ice cover was estimated at 25%. In addition, in the austral summer 1994/95, 66 Kerguelen petrels were observed when ice was present; most of the petrels were sighted more than 100 nautical miles south of the South Orkney Islands (Table 1). The southernmost record obtained for the Kerguelen petrel was on 8 March 1993, at 62° 43′S, 57° 57′W, also in the presence of ice (unpubl. data). Kerguelen petrel has a circumpolar distribution in the Southern Ocean, usually at the ice edge (Onley & Scofield 2007). In fact, all observations of this species in our surveys were made where ice was present. The published records of this species south of 60°S are extremely scarce; however, our observations confirm its distribution in Antarctic waters. The Kerguelen petrel nests on Gough, Tristan da Cunha Group, Prince Edward, Kerguelen and other islands east of our study area. Given that we made our observations in late austral summer, it is likely the birds were post-reproductive individuals.

We recorded three individuals, all in Antarctica, in the presence of strong winds and cold, ice-free water (Table 1). One of the birds flew about 15 m a.s.l. and followed the ship for a few seconds. This species has been previously recorded in Antarctic waters. In February 1994, 64 great-winged petrels in flocks of up to five were observed in the eastern Weddell Sea between 64 and 69°S, the southernmost record at 69°05′S and 21°24′W (Montalti et al. 1999; Fig. 1d). According to del Hoyo et al. (1992), the great-winged petrel is highly pelagic, widespread, but sparsely distributed at sea and occasionally strays into sub-Antarctic and Antarctic zones. Records from Montalti et al. (1999) and our observations are the only ones known for the Antarctic Peninsula and South Orkney Islands.