sailing

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 an Ocean Discovery followed by a Bay Discovery today. The third trip was postponed until Friday because of the rain. We still had strong wind to contend with, but were able to head out to the productive areas we found yesterday. Seabird activity was again pretty awesome  with flocking shearwaters and diving gannets…

It was extremely breezy today, so while sailing conditions were exciting, spotting conditions were difficult. It was all there though. This morning as we sailed out of the bay in the distance we saw masses of whirling diving seabirds and found a massive feeding frenzy. On the way we had a brief encounter with a…

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…

We had a super long day today, with a three hour followed by a four hour trip, and the four hour was more like five hours! The reason for this is the amount of wildlife out there at the moment – it’s more on July levels than May. This morning was the quieter half  of…

We had a lovely couple of trips in today’s sunshine. Both morning and afternoon Ocean Discovery passengers had great encounters with common dolphins while under sail, and they loved being close to the animals on the net of the catamaran – something you can’t get on other wildlife watching tours! We also saw grey seals,…

A lovely sunny bank holiday and an enthusiastic friendly bunch of people for our Ocean Discovery tour. They were rewarded near the end with a great encounter with some common dolphins, who swam around the boat and bowrode, given everyone some good views. Prior to that it had been rather quiet, though with some nice…

The wind switched to a northerly direction today so it was flatter (though chilly!) In the sunshine we found a small feeding frenzy of common dolphins, with lots of seabirds dipping in from above. We could even clearly the baitfish (sprats? photos weren’t clear enough to tell) jumping to try and escape the carnage. It’s…

We had a Discovery Voyage this morning. After the strong wind recently conditions were tricky for spotting wildlife but we know it’s out there because Duncan and Josh spotted a minke whale surface in the bay. Is it the same one that’s been hanging around for a while? There were countless seabirds out there, mainly…