Wednesday 9th September

There was a chunky swell running this morning on our five hour trip which made for a couple of green faces, however the wildlife was worth it. Straightaway we watched some very interesting behaviour from some grey seals on the island – a group of three were hauled out who were joined by a couple more as we watched. One bull was very unhappy about this and there was a lot of snarling, lunging and slapping to try and deter the newcomers. There were several more elsewhere, totally fourteen seals altogether – a good count. A little further on we found the first of the day’s common dolphins as the Scillonian passed us – we hope their passengers got a good view too. After what felt like a bit of a wild goose chase we caught up with masses of gannets feeding, along with lots more gannets and bluefin tuna. Sailing westwards then the swell built as we approached Land’s End so we came back to the coast where we had a lovely encounter with a pod of Risso’s dolphins who gave us some really clear views. There were also some rather more elusive porpoises.

This afternoon’s Bay Discovery was also very productive with more common dolphins and porpoises spotted as well as a peregrine falcon out to sea. Other birds today included Manx shearwaters and a great skua.

Trips are cancelled tomorrow because of the strong wind forecast, but six spaces currently remain on Friday’s Bay Discovery at 10am.