Cornwall

July already. It didn’t particularly feel like it out there though – people  had their woolly hats on! On the Ocean Discovery this morning we found a pod of  three porpoises in the bay. They surfaced several times, giving everyone good views. We also saw a non breeding puffin, and a family of guillemots; mum,…

It was a long day today with a four hour trip followed by a three hour. This morning it was quiet for over two hours, with a few rafts of shearwaters and some gannets spotted, before we found a large pod of common dolphins a long way offshore. We also saw an ocean sunfish and…

What an absolutely cracking day we had today. It seems as though summer has finally arrived with a shift in the airflow and warmer temperatures. In the sea as well, we are starting to see blue jellyfish and ocean sunfish, a sure sign that the fronts have come closer in from offshore. We found three…

We had to cancel yesterday because of the strong northerly wind, and it was still pretty breezy today. This is an offshore wind though, so close to the coast at least, it doesn’t make for rough conditions. On the morning Ocean Discovery we found some more Risso’s dolphins – a pair this time. They were…

We had a lovely three hour trip this afternoon in really calm conditions. Despite the gloom on land, offshore the sun was out. We found three seals hauled out on the island, including our favourites Kelp and Seaweed. This is the 17th year in a row we have seen Kelp in this location – truly…

As can be the way of May, there was a bit of a quiet afternoon today, after the boom of the last few days. We were on the wrong tide for seals, so they were all elsewhere, but there were some seabirds to see. Nesting season is in full swing. It did feel a little…

Everything was very quiet and sleepy this afternoon, including the weather! Firstly we watched a quiet sleepy seal on the island as the tide rose, before he reluctantly slid back into the water. Further south at one of our very reliable cetacean spots we found a small group of common dolphins, which again were resting…

We had two Ocean Discovery boat trips today. On the morning tour we found two pods of common dolphins. The first juvenile pod came racing in to bow ride giving a fantastic encounter. We watched the second group, which was made up of mother’s and calves from a distance initially before they also came over…

We had a two rather warm and sunny Ocean Discovery boat trips today. This morning we started the trip with a great northern diver as we left the harbour, then sailed south to look at numerous active gull and gannet groups feeding on the inshore fronts. Following a trail of guillemots and razorbills we found…

We had a fully booked Discovery Voyage this morning in bright sunshine. We went round to Land’s End and were treated to a shearwater spectacular of hundreds of them feeding in the tidal races, along with fulmars, kittiwakes and other gulls, gannets and lots of auks. There were also lots of seals hauled out on…