Tuesday 22nd September

It was a dark dim humid autumn day with amazing wildlife sightings. This is being an incredible September. This morning we found sleeping grey seals, some by-the-widn-sailors, leaping tuna, masses of common dolphins, a few harbour porpoises, and finally some Risso’s dolphins as they looped into the coast and back offshore – a cetacean hat-trick on the first trick. We also found some more grey phalaropes – I think this is the most we have ever seen.

This afternoon the calm conditions remained and the bay was absolutely alive with fish, with large areas of flickering baitfish at the surface. Heading out we again spotted Rupert the Lone Kayaker who was heading in after another long paddle and encounters with large numbers of fins. As we chatted, I could see some leaping which looked like dolphins but which turned out to be some enormous tuna. Distant birds led us south a long way, which turned out to be gulls and a few gannets flocking and feeding round more tuna and huge numbers of dolphins. In the distance a whale surfaced a few times – a large minke probably. Other birds included a lone sooty shearwater, and most unusually, a red necked grebe still in summer plumage.

A few spaces remain on our five hour Discovery Adventure tomorrow morning! It seems as though there is no better time than now!