Sightings Blog

We had an Ocean Discovery followed by a Bay Discovery trip today in an increasingly blustery southerly wind. This morning it started off fairly calm, and we had great views of a pair of porpoises as they swam past the boat. Later on we found various small groups of common dolphins scattered through the bay,…

Just the one trip today in a strong northwesterly wind. Conditions were pretty challenging, but we found several groups of porpoises and dolphins. A couple of porpoises were towards the Mount under a single circling gannet, then we found various small groups of dolphins as we sailed southwards. Further west in some strong wind and…

We were back on the water today after a very windy and wet few days. There was still a big chunky swell running, but conditions were ok to do two Ocean Discovery trips. The windy interlude did not affect wildlife sightings – there were plenty of common dolphins to be found, and we had great…

We had a four hour trip followed by a two hour trip today is steadily worsening weather conditions! It started off bright and sunny though, and we had some lovely encounters with grey seals, common dolphins, harbour porpoises and bluefin tuna. One of the passengers described the dolphins as “millions” – there weren’t quite that…

We had a couple of extraordinary Ocean Discovery trips today in warm, sunny conditions. This morning we found so many common dolphins which were feeding, socialising and bowriding. They were even catching fish as they swam alongside the boat. In amongst them were some very large bluefin tuna, who were sending the gulls into a…

It definitely feels autumnal out there now despite the still-balmy temperatures. We had a four hour followed by a two hour trip today in breezy grey conditions. This morning we found a large group of common dolphins not too far away, which were swimming and socialising amongst themselves. A few of them did come over…

We had a four hour followed by a three hour trip today. This morning there were large numbers of harbour porpoises in some big groups spotted. Conditions were lovely and calm, so spotting conditions were perfect. We also saw tuna, grey seals and common dolphins – there were hardly any seabirds around surprisingly. This afternoon…

The wind built very quickly over lunch today so we did one trip then stopped. There were plenty of dolphins out there, though surfacing very unpredictably, as well as lots of porpoises and grey seals. One of the seals on the island was a female we first noticed in May with a nasty looking fungal…

We had two Ocean Discovery trips today on a quiet, grey day. On the morning trip we found common dolphins, had great views of harbour porpoises and saw some hunting bluefin tuna. There were also lots of grey seals hauled out on the island. This afternoon everything was rather sleepy – we saw a couple…

It wasn’t possible for it to be any calmer today! There was not a breath of wind and the water was like silk. A perfect summer’s day, only in September. We had a four hour followed by a three hour trip, and spotted lots of common dolphins and harbour porpoises on both. This morning we…

There was a really thick mist first thing morning which thankfully lifted enough for us to start trips at 9am as planned. There was no wind but a long rolling swell which, with the lingering mist, made things feel like Monterey Bay! This impression was made even stronger by the large pod of common dolphins…

Two busy trips today on another warm September day, though it got a little hazy this afternoon. On the morning Discovery Voyage we had great sightings of large pods of harbour porpoises and several groups of common dolphins. We also had lovely views of seals, diving gannets, some bluefin tuna and an ocean sunfish! It…