Saturday 3rd August
We had a Discovery Voyage this morning followed by a private three hour charter this afternoon. After the strong wind of yesterday and overnight there was quite a chunky swell running but the wind had switched northwesterly, so conditions weren’t too bad at all. In the bay first off we found masses of common dolphins…
Friday 2nd August
Today the conditions were trickier than they had been, with a brisk southwesterly wind whipping the sea up into a choppy state. That meant the afternoon trip was shortened to two hours, but this morning we got the full three hours in. At this time of year, we start seeing more of the exciting offshore…
Thursday 1st August
On this afternoon’s four hour trip, we saw the most amazing feeding frenzies of hundreds of bluefin tuna! Up until we saw the accompanying thousands of seabirds, things had been rather quiet inshore, so we headed off south and west. The seabirds gradually hove into view and they included gannets, all manner of gulls, Manx…
Wednesday 31st July
It was day of flat seas, hot sunshine and superb sightings today. It didn’t take long until we found our first cetaceans, and there were absolutely loads of them. These were harbour porpoises and I’m not sure we have ever seen so many in the bay. They are even out dolphin-ing the dolphins and it’s…
Tuesday 30th July
On this morning’s three hour Ocean Discovery tour we saw our first big feeding frenzies of bluefin tuna of the summer. This is an amazing sight (and sound!), as the tuna rush around hunting prey, and making the water look as though it is boiling. Occasionally they launch themselves out of the water and you…
Monday 29th July
What a day we had on the water today. It started so calm that the sea’s surface was like a mirror. This gave us awesome through-the-water views of not only the hundreds of common dolphins, but also harbour porpoises. It seems that by this stage of the summer, the porpoises are feeding more efficiently which…
Saturday 27th July
What a mega long day – we had two full Ocean Discovery trips followed by an evening Bay Discovery. During the morning we found lots of common dolphins and had great views also of a minke whale! Not a bad start to National Whale and Dolphin Watch 2024. We also saw seabirds including lots of…
Friday 26th July
We ran two trips today, a four hour Discovery Voyage and a three hour Ocean Discovery. The bay was full of common dolphins on both trips. The first ones this morning were a sleepy group in the grey of the morning which did a big lazy loop round us. Shortly after we found lots more…
Thursday 25th August
It was a miserable mizzly morning today so we cancelled the four hour trip and went out for the Bay Discovery trip at 2pm when it cleared up a bit. There were more seals hauled out than we have seen for ages – a mixture of adult males, females and juveniles numbering 15 in total….
Wednesday 24th July
It was a fantastic day’s wildlife watching today despite less than ideal conditions. The morning was actually ok weather wise and we saw a few common dolphins in small groups from the outset. What was incredibly dramatic though was a long lasting feeding frenzy going on a little further south. Yes there were scores and…
Tuesday 23rd July
We had a Discovery Voyage this morning followed by an Ocean Discovery, and conditions almost couldn’t have been better. So welcome after the gloom and mizzle of yesterday. First thing we saw a small group of very elusive dolphins close inshore – they clearly didn’t want company so we left them very quickly. Looking at…
Monday 22nd July
It was a bit of a drab day today and it got much drabber still this afternoon. The wildlife sightings were great though. On the morning three hour trip, we first watched seven seals round the island as they hauled out on the rocks. Two of the females were in a very moany mood –…