seals

We had two Ocean Discovery trips today on another hot day, though with a welcome sea breeze. This morning we found several groups of common dolphins who were engaging in a range of behaviours which were very interesting to observe. Some were feeding, some socialising, some were resting, and some came over to interact and…

This morning’s Discovery Voyage was a bit of a slow burner but the wildlife appeared eventually! Straight south of here we picked up a very small pod of very avoidant dolphins who clearly weren’t interested so we left them alone to do their thing. We then motored sailed (the wind was light) a long way…

It was a calm start to the day with a building westerly breeze that developed into lovely sailing conditions. We had a bit of a bonanza on this morning’s Discovery Voyage trip again, with Risso’s dolphins spotted first, included some mothers with small calves. There were also two encounters with porpoises, firstly with a pair…

The day started off murky but the wildlife this morning was fantastic. We had great views of harbour porpoises (between 30 and 40) feeding under diving gannets, followed by a terrific encounter with some common dolphins who were in a very showy offy mood. As we came back into the bay we found a group…

We had a final Ocean Discovery trip to finish the half term this morning. After a quiet start to the season, this week has seen beautiful weather and a lot of very welcome visitors – both humans and animals! We watched some seals at the island at the start of the trip, including our favourite…

It was a bit of a misty one this morning though the swell had dropped (slightly!). There were still so many seabirds out there – it’s an amazing sight watched them gliding and dipping over swells and into troughs with scarcely a flap. They were searching for food along big streams of foamy plankton which…

It was a bit of a wet and windy start to the week, but the rain mainly held off until the very end of the trip. After hoisting the sails on leaving the harbour, we sailed southwards into a choppy, southwesterly sea and soon started picking up  seabirds soaring past. A few tacks out of…

We had such a great sail on this morning’s four hour Discovery Voyage. The northeasterly built behind us, taking us westwards with the outgoing tide so quickly we were able to spend some time exploring the coves between Gwennap Head and Land’s End. Because of that wind there were fewer seabirds around than the past…

We were so lucky with the weather today – it was forecast to be wet, and we didn’t get a single drop out at sea, though the hills inland looked really misty and rainy. The moral of this tale is – ignore BBC weather. There are far more accurate forecasts. The seabirds are amazing at…

We had a four hour trip today in conditions which got progressively darker and dimmer! Sightings were very similar to yesterday’s with several seals hauled out on the island, the same female hauled out on the rocks under the lighthouse and a few very stern looking males round at the secret seal cove. Very much…