Monday 26th August

The wind calmed a lot today though there were still some splashy waves out there. The wildlife was all there though – common dolphins, grey seals, seabirds and a porpoise on the first Ocean Discovery trip. On the second three hour trip, we spotted several more seals bobbing around in the water before going a long way south to an area where we often see dolphins – sure enough even though it felt very quiet out there, up popped a group of common dolphins who gave everyone some awesome views. There were lots of soaring shearwaters too, and on the way back in we had some superb sightings of several groups of harbour porpoises who had been feeding under diving gannets. On the evening Bay Discovery we watched a little juvenile seal hauled out before finding some porpoises in the same place. And just as we were dropping the sails by the Gear Pole, a surprise group of dolphins appeared! Sometimes you really do need to keep on watching out all the way to the harbour entrance.