Wednesday 28th June

We had two Ocean Discovery trips today in dull occasionally drizzly conditions. This afternoon it properly rained – I guess our gardens and reservoirs need it! This morning we spotted a single Risso’s dolphin, which disappeared. Later at the end of the trip we found lots of them and had fantastic views. A little later we found a large pod of common dolphins, who rushed in and bow rode for a while – they seemed keen to bowride a nearby fishing boat. At the end of the tour we found a harbour porpoise. A cetacean hat trick! We also saw some seals around the island including a very little one hauled high up near the grass. This afternoon we motored along the coast westwards watching with some trepidation as some very dark clouds approached from offshore. We had some good views of gliding shearwaters as the rain approached; Duncan also spotted some feeding gannets to the south but the were swallowed up by the rain. So we came back into the bay where it cleared up and we had brief but clear views of three Risso’s dolphins as they swam past. We also saw a couple of seals hauled out on the island.