wildlife watching

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…

More blustery conditions today and some sharp showers first thing. Cornwall has certainly provided some extremes over the last couple of weeks. This morning we headed out on an Ocean Discovery, hugging the coast initially to stay out of the worst of the wind, before sailing back with the swells behind us. There were lots…

We had a freezing but fabulous trip this morning in the April sunshine. The wind was blowing steadily from the northwest, making perfect, fun sailing conditions and coupled with the long westerly swell it made an exciting ride. There were eight seals hauled out on the island made up of males, females and juveniles. We…

It was a murky day today but the wildlife brightened everything up. We started at the island watching seals start to haul out, then as we went south, we appeared to motor into a cloud which was pretty persistent for about an hour. We watched some fish boiling away at the surface and some kittiwakes…

It was a full on day today with three full trips in beautiful conditions. We found common dolphins and harbour porpoises on the three hour Ocean Discovery trip this morning, along with lots of seabirds including storm petrels. At the end of the trip we found several seals hauled out, who were still there at…

A busy day today with three trips, and the wildlife in the bay is still pumping! Today we have seen so many porpoises again, common dolphins here there and everywhere including some mums with very young calves, bluefin tuna busting at the surface and grey seals lazing around enjoying the summer. Seabirds have included gannets,…

It was all rather grey and choppy today but the wildlife sightings were extraordinary. On the four hour trip this morning we headed south into the murk which thankfully lifted and it wasn’t long before we found our first group of harbour porpoises. After stopping to reef the sail, we then sailed westwards across the…

We’re having an amazing week, though it did feel very different out there today with wildlife not nearly as obvious. All the more rewarding when seek and then you find! This morning there was a large pod of common dolphins spotted further out, while closer inshore it was harbour porpoises that were found in the…

We can hardly believe it but in May, Marine Discovery will have completed 20 successful years in operation! Here is the first instalment of how we began… When Duncan and I were fresh faced things in our late 20s, we were primary school teachers in Indian Queens and St Austell respectively. While we enjoyed teaching…

The fine sunny conditions continued today after a dull start, and we had a three hour followed by a two hour trip. This morning we had a very exciting sail in the strong breeze, after watching some very entertaining seals round the island. Seabirds skimmed past, though they were too fast for photos. This afternoon…