Common Dolphin at Strumble

The Common Dolphins seen by Richard Stonier at Strumble were still around at 5.15pm yesterday but only numbered 10 to 15. I watched them from the top car park. Mention of the word 'Dolphin' had lots of people training their bins out to sea and looking through my scope. Great views of the Porpoise too in a mirror calm sea. Then we witnessed upon the darker side of nature, a Great black-backed gull was attacking a flightless Guillemot with vigour. A gathering of juv gulls assembled around this 'David & Goliath' tussle and the scene was reminiscent of a school playground with the 'bully' and the 'victim' engaged in an uneven match. I honestly thought the guillemot's days were numbered but remarkably it survived this onslaught. The gull temporarily called a halt to the hostilities but remained on station nearby.

I watched the local fisherman transferring their catch of shellfish (crabs, lobster and 'craw fish') into a lorry at Goodwick yesterday afternoon for onward transportation to supply the French & Spanish markets and I realised how important this sea area is not only to marine life but also to the livelihoods of some local families. All the more reason to ensure its future survival as a 'sustainable' resource for the benefit of man and nature.