grey seals

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 –…

Unbroken sunshine and great wildlife sightings all day today. On the morning Ocean Discovery there was very little wind, so great spotting conditions. Very quickly we spotted a couple of Risso’s dolphins who were “logging” at the surface, sleeping. They are very vulnerable to boat collision from fast moving boats and disturbance when they are…

Back out on the water today after a wet and windy couple of days, with a four hour then a three hour trip. This morning we headed to where we estimated there would be common dolphin activity and sure enough there was, with three pods spotted over the area. Passengers enjoyed watching them bowriding and…

This morning’s Ocean Discovery trip was cold, grey and choppy but the wildlife made up for it. We had a tip there were lots of dolphins further south so headed that way quickly, but everything seemed quiet. We then sailed westwards into the bouncy sea, and suddenly lots of common dolphins rushed up and surrounded…

Today’s conditions could not have been more different to yesterday. With an increasing south westerly wind chopping up the sea, and grey skies threatening rain (but holding off) we just did the morning Ocean Discovery. We saw some grey seals including old faithful Kelp hauled out on the island as well as a variety of…

We had an Ocean Discovery trip this morning in perfect sailing conditions though it feels more like April, temperature wise. Heading out we had an encounter with a scattered pod of four Risso’s dolphins – three adults and one calf. The mum/calf pair is the same one we saw yesterday, and the other two adults…

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 great couple of Ocean Discovery trips today in improving conditions after the strong westerly wind of the last few days. This morning we found several small groups of common dolphins in the bay, feeding with large numbers of Manx shearwaters. There are also guillemots and razorbills amongst the big rafts of shearwaters…

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…

We had a two hour trip with the charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation this morning (WDC) and some of their guests. The breeze was certainly stronger than it has been recently so we had a pretty good sail (with reefed sails!). On the island we saw Seaweed the grey seal dozing on a rock, with…