Saturday 13th July

We had a hastily planned Ocean Discovery trip this afternoon – well, you can’t miss a forecast like that, especially this summer! Calm conditions helped us spot three species of cetacean, as well as grey seals hauled out. First we had some lovely views of harbour porpoises, including a mother and her calf. Then we saw some common dolphins who were very quiet and sleepy so we didn’t hang around them too long – they really weren’t interested is us. It’s a curious and slightly worrying thing at the moment that we are seeing very very few seabirds – normally by July we are getting large flocks of gannets, and the shearwaters have dispersed too. Even the auks were few and far between today. However what we did find, with a bit of patience and perseverance was a large minke whale. Duncan glimpsed it at the start of the trip, and at the end everyone got to see it.