sea safaris

There was quite a lot of easterly wind today for our Discovery Voyage and Bay Discovery trips which made the sea choppy, but it was sunny and really warm. Sea conditions made spotting fins quite difficult – this morning we saw a few common dolphins briefly, and it looked as though there were porpoises feeding…

Another warm sunny day with an easterly breeze. We had one Ocean Discovery trip, which was fully booked. There were a few seals bobbing around in the water near the island as the tide rose, and we had some great close views of harbour porpoises who swam really close to the boat. There were some…

We had an Ocean Discovery followed by a Bay Discovery trip today. There was a bit more southerly wind than predicted, but at least it was warmer than earlier in the week! On both trips we found grey seals bobbing and snoozing round the island, and also good numbers of harbour porpoises. They are being…

It was another very windy day. While there was no swell and the horizon was flat, the offshore wind made it very cold and choppy so we couldn’t venture too far out. This morning we were again intercepted by a couple of common dolphins who seemed to be looking for something to do! Often common…

We had two Ocean Discovery trips today and the weather was an enormous improvement on yesterday’s wind and rain. This morning we had an extraordinary porpoise encounter. There were lots of gannets further east in an area where we have been seeing lots of porpoises so we headed over for a look. Sure enough we…

What a couple of trips we had today in spite of (or maybe because of) the misty conditions, and with some really friendly and interested passengers. I do love September! Dolphins here, dolphins there, dolphins literally everywhere. Leaping tuna in the morning, shearwaters (again four species spotted), grey seals, harbour porpoises. This afternoon we had…

There was a strong spell of easterly wind this morning so it was a good thing we hadn’t scheduled a morning trip. It did ease off for the first half of the afternoon, but there was still some steep leftover chop. This did affect spotting conditions somewhat, but we still had a good trip. After…

What a day we had for seabirds today. As so often happens when there’s been a bit of a southerly blow, it brought all manner of exciting pelagic species within reach on our four hour and three hour trips – no chumming necessary! It started off so murky and wet that we kept close to…

The wind calmed a lot today though there were still some splashy waves out there. The wildlife was all there though – common dolphins, grey seals, seabirds and a porpoise on the first Ocean Discovery trip. On the second three hour trip, we spotted several more seals bobbing around in the water before going a…

We had a couple of awesome trips today. The morning Discovery Voyage passengers saw lots and lots of porpoises again, as well as grey seals and a couple of groups of common dolphins. Conditions were sunnier in the morning, and it clouded over and the wind built for the afternoon. After watching the seals bobbing…