Thursday 9th July

Such calm silky water, chockablock with plankton, jellyfish and – this afternoon at least – dolphins. Our four hour trip this morning was actually quite quiet until we found a group of common dolphins, though conditions were beautifully calm and clear. We did see a few seals bottling round the island, including a big male. Seabirds included Mediterranean gulls and Manx shearwaters. On the afternoon Ocean Discovery more dolphins had moved inshore and we saw lots of different small groups, some of which were very sociable, others less so so we left them to get on with what they were doing. We also saw several sunfish, though they would disappear after we watched a few flaps of a dorsal fin. A couple of individual porpoises completed the afternoon.

The forecast is getting warmer over the next few days but breezier, so we’ll be able to sail a bit more.