harbour porpoises

We had a three hour trip with eleven passengers this morning in an increasing southerly wind. The wildlife was a bit awkward to photograph today as it was unpredictable and the waves were a bit choppy but we managed to spot harbour porpoises (who were hunting deep so only surfacing intermittently), bluefin tuna and some…

Today was living proof that you don’t need sunshine and calm blue seas to have an amazing trip. We took some students from Cornwall College Newquay out this afternoon, and there were grey skies, a bit of mizzle and some rolling southwesterly swell. However the sightings were fantastic. After watching a couple of seals bobbing…

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…

Today was one of those days when the harbour porpoises completely outshone the dolphins. They were feeding energetically in large pods, and because at this time of year they are eating shoaling fish like the dolphins, this appears to give them more free time. And what do they do with this free time….they become much…

We had two Ocean Discovery trips today. The morning was still rather murky but it brightened through the day and we had blue skies and sunshine by mid afternoon. On the morning trip we were treated to an amazing porpoise display. As we head into the autumn, we see more mating behaviour and this involves…

It was day of flat seas, hot sunshine  and superb sightings today. It didn’t take long until we found our first cetaceans, and there were absolutely loads of them. These were harbour porpoises and I’m not sure we have ever seen so many in the bay. They are even out dolphin-ing the dolphins and it’s…

What a mega long day  – we had two full Ocean Discovery trips followed by an evening Bay Discovery. During the morning we found lots of common dolphins and had great views also of a minke whale! Not a bad start to National Whale and Dolphin Watch 2024. We also saw seabirds including lots of…

I have been looking back over 2023 and made some images to represent our sightings of different species. We recorded cetaceans on 81% of our trips last year, which is an amazing sightings rate. 10252 dolphins, porpoises and whales! We also saw grey seals on most trips, bluefin tuna and ocean sunfish. Each image has…

An unexpected trip at the end of the season, a whole four weeks after our last one during half term! A weather and swell window over the next few days allowed us to  head out with seven passengers to see what we have been missing over the last month. As ever  when you have been…

After today half term is going to get  pretty windy, so we were pleased to have two trips today. This morning’s Ocean Discovery passengers saw large groups of harbour porpoises feeding with gannets – they were even leaping and breaching like dolphins as they charged around after fish. We also had lovely views of seals…