Some old porpoise footage from Skomer (2013)

 

 Some old porpoise footage from Skomer (2013)

Some porpoise BEHAVIOR

I just re-found this, and thought it might be interesting for anyone interested in Porpoise behaviour and the problems associated with getting relevant counts/abundance:

Here's a link to some footage of porpoises. I filmed  this from the cliffs near the Mew Stone on Skomer Island : http://youtu.be/xC_Bho_DEBY Sadly the definition is not so good but the great thing is that it shows whats happening on the surface but also some of what is happening below the surface which we rarely see ... Seeing the porps under water, it's clear to see how quickly they can manouver and change direction. It shows just how tricky it is or even impossible to count porpoise numbers with any real accuracy from just surface sightings.  One animal may surface and then seem to resurface again when in fact as we can see from the film it is a completely different animal. The first one shoots off surfacing randomly elsewhere whilst others seem to appear from nowhere.

I was amazed at how fast they can suddenly accelerate and swerve, flashing their flanks as if rounding up or disorientating their prey. I am not sure if in this case, its a "team effort" but it looks like it could be..

Ramsey Sound: Sea Trust Porpoise Photo ID team from Fran.

 Monday and Thursday photo id teams both had great surveys in Ramsey Sound this week! It was sunnier today but the same number of porpoises travelled past the survey point on both days over the course of 45 minutes, starting 3 hours after high tide. 12 porpoises passed us in one of the 15 mins. Today Carrie (see photo) joined Fran, Ben, Dawn (regular Thursday team) as well as 3 interns Jack, Amy and Aneesha and Maisy (work experience) and Chris from Treginnis Farm. Monday's team was Chris, Harry, Fran and Louise plus Amy and Joe. We should have some good photos once they have been processed as lots of cameras were clicking today!

Strumble Diary 20/03/2025

 Another early morning start today at 07.30. Not a very big tide today but it was calm and thankfully a bit warmer once the sun came over the horizon. First sighting was of two porpoises north of Pen Caer point and at the same time some Commons to the east of the point. Given the weaker tide race porpoise sightings were slow and I only saw a few with most being distant. One did come closer and as it turned out it was a marked animal I fancy I'd seen before, possibly "Front Nick" and if that is so will be a nice returner for the ID catalogue. The Commons were more numerous though and a pod of a dozen or so were active in the area for most of my session. As the tide race peaked and dropped away so did the action and I ended my session at just after 10.00am.

 Session 07.30-10.00am. Sea state 2. Wind SE3-4. Clear sky.

 

Strumble Diary 19/03/2025 AM

 Early morning session today starting at 7.am and hopefully another for the dropping tide this afternoon. A beautiful sunny morning again and with a bit more warmth than previous days. Things were very quiet when I arrived despite the fact the tide race was running well at this stage. The odd porpoise started showing followed by a few Commons off to the NW. That's the way it followed for the remainder of the session with porps then Commons then porps again and so on. One previously sighted porp, I think "Top Notch" so happy to see that one return..

Flooding tide. Session 07.00-10.00am. Sea State 2, 3 in tide race. Clear Sky, Light SE wind.

 

 

Strumble Diary 18/3/25: Just missed the main event!

I arrived at Strumble as the tide was almost topping out, at around 09.20 A sharp South Easterly wind against tide, chopping things up a bit further out off the coast. As I arrived there was a lot of Gannet and gull activity just off the lookout. Fiona Day and George Mee had apparently witnessed a large whale blow on Sunday so I was hopeful! A Kestrel just taking off from a nearby fence post was a nice greeting.

I decided to watch from the car park where i could shelter from the wind but be in the sun, beside my car. The seabird activity was dying with the tide, I counted 30+ Gannets and at least 100 gulls, mostly Herring Gulls, but by now most were mainly resting on the sea.It seemed i had missed the main event. There were a handful of Common dolphins dotted around hardly showing anything but brief glimpses Maybe just chilling out, digesting their breakfast,

I saw no porpoises and as the time ticked away i spotted odd Dolphins here and there, relatively close in. There was at least one mother and small calf but to be honest sightings were sporadic, there may have been a handful or maybe ten or twenty as they were mostly only briefly showing a fin occasionally head and shoulders.

Strumble often produces a little gem and today it was a female Merlin protractedly chasing what was possibly a Pipit The Pipit really did not wand to provide breakfast for the little raptor and took evasive action sending the Merlin high and low with close misses as the pipit jinked and turned for its very life. I lost them to view after several thrilling seconds so will never know the outcome of this life or death struggle. Either way it made my day and so I left with a smile on my face! (18/3/25)

Strumble Diary 17/03/2025

 When I sometimes describe the feeding behaviour of porpoise at Strumble to people, I quite often mention the duration of the feeding period as anything from 10 minutes to 2 hours+  depending on tidal conditions. Well today it was even shorter than that. I started my session at 11.40ish and saw the first porpoise at 12.02 with my last feeding sighting at 12.10. Three porpoise in all in eight minutes and then nothing. I waited as the tide dropped away in hope more than anything and just as I was thinking of leaving I saw a single porpoise speeding West with the tide flow at 12.57. So a total of four in all, poor really, but at least it wasn't a blank. Fran and the interns however had a much better survey at Ramsey Sound with fifteen or so sightings some of which were very active breaches. I guess my loss was their gain.

Session, 11.40 - 13.00.  Sea state, 3.  Sky, overcast.  Wind, NE 2-3.  Light swells. 

Red Throated Diver in the tide race.

Commons in the Bay 16/03/2025

 I was just leaving Strumble and a message popped up on the Supporters group from Fiona Day, saying there were Commons in the bay. Rude not to take a look, so I headed straight to the harbour by the old extension. Thanks Fiona for the heads up. Just off the quay about 100mtrs were twelve or so Commons just milling around among a group of gulls sat on the water. Cliff and Fran turned up then left for the Ocean Lab to fetch our three new interns so that they could get some views of these lovely cetaceans at close quarters. 

Cliff spotted a Black Guillimot so I got a few shots of that too. The pair we have in the bay are the most southerly breeding pair in the whole of the UK so I am always pleased to have an encounter with these striking and distinctively marked birds. As the ferry prepared to sail the commons tightened together and started to move away from the quay area and as the ferry departed they quickly moved away from it toward the far side of the bay. At this point we returned to the Ocen Lab with three happy and smiling interns.