Thursday 16th July

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 bowride with us on the catamaran. I also spotted a porpoise briefly but it was completely elusive and didn’t appear again. Duncan spotted a breaching sunfish, which obligingly did it twice more letting everyone see this unusual sight. It’s though they do it to bash parasites off their skin.

This afternoon we spotted several seals round the island which we will be reporting as part of our survey for Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust’s summer seal census. These were a mixture of adult males and adult females. All seemed quieter offshore, but we finally spotted the tell tale wheeling and diving gannets which showed us where quite a lot of common dolphins were hunting. There were also kittiwakes and Manx shearwaters.