Thursday 19th September
There was quite a lot of easterly wind today for our Discovery Voyage and Bay Discovery trips which made the sea choppy, but it was sunny and really warm. Sea conditions made spotting fins quite difficult – this morning we saw a few common dolphins briefly, and it looked as though there were porpoises feeding…
Wednesday 18th September
Another warm sunny day with an easterly breeze. We had one Ocean Discovery trip, which was fully booked. There were a few seals bobbing around in the water near the island as the tide rose, and we had some great close views of harbour porpoises who swam really close to the boat. There were some…
Tuesday 17th September
It was warm and sunny today for this afternoon’s Discovery Voyage, though there was a brisk easterly breeze making it rather choppy in places! There was a lot of wildlife out there to see, with two groups of common dolphins (one of them joined us as we sailed for a bit of bowriding), and some…
Monday 16th September
After a murky start this morning it turned into a beautiful atmospheric day. There was no wind at all, and banks of mist hanging around which slowly cleared. This morning we were really pleased to find large numbers of common dolphins around again, after a quiet few days. There was a large group of about…
Saturday 14th September
We had an Ocean Discovery followed by a Bay Discovery trip today. There was a bit more southerly wind than predicted, but at least it was warmer than earlier in the week! On both trips we found grey seals bobbing and snoozing round the island, and also good numbers of harbour porpoises. They are being…
Friday 13th September
The wind finally calmed today which was very welcome. On the first Ocean Discovery trip we had an amazing encounter with a single Risso’s dolphin. We initially spotted it sleeping, then waited stationary for a few moments and then it surprised us by noisily appearing right next to the boat. In the still conditions the…
Thursday 12th September
It was another very windy day. While there was no swell and the horizon was flat, the offshore wind made it very cold and choppy so we couldn’t venture too far out. This morning we were again intercepted by a couple of common dolphins who seemed to be looking for something to do! Often common…
Wednesday 11th September
It was another windy day, but we managed to get in a couple of Ocean Discovery trips. There was a good amount of wildlife to see, though the harbour porpoises this afternoon were tough to spot in the choppy conditions. They were there though! This morning there were also some leaping tuna, and lots of…
Monday 9th September
It was a cold windy day today and felt rather autumnal. The wind was from the north, so it wasn’t rough, just cool and choppy further offshore. We had two Ocean Discovery trips – on the first one we saw plenty of harbour porpoises and gannets, and at the end of the trip watched some…
Saturday 7th September
We had two Ocean Discovery boat trips today. The morning started under a dramatic sky. We headed to the south and found multiple groups of harbour porpoises by following the seabird activity. The porpoises proved tricky to watch although one large group finally gave us some better views. There were random blue fin tuna breaches…
Friday 6th September
We had two Ocean Discovery trips today and the weather was an enormous improvement on yesterday’s wind and rain. This morning we had an extraordinary porpoise encounter. There were lots of gannets further east in an area where we have been seeing lots of porpoises so we headed over for a look. Sure enough we…
Wednesday 4th September
We had a four hour followed by a three hour trip today in windy northerly conditions. Even so, we had some great sightings – during the morning we initially found some common dolphins then sailed southwards where we found two minke whales feeding among the bluefin tuna and shearwaters. As we sailed back towards the…