Who's afraid of a little porp!

While fishing 200 metres off Porthcawl Pier this morning (Thursday) I encountered two porpoise. They did not stay long enough to give good views but did frighten away the fish!! Tight lines, Steve Rosser

You weren't the only ones out on the silky smooth Bristol Channel yesterday Steve! Verena and I joined Mark Williams on the "Vigilance" and surveyed from Swansea around Worm's head into Carmarthen bay and then on to Neyland on an inshore route. Many thanks to Sponsors Briggs Marine for giving us the opportunity.

Pictured L-R: Skipper, MarkWilliams, Anna Prior, Environment Agency Survey Manager & the Walrus of Sea Trust!

The sea state was 2, diminishing to 0, despite the usual wrong Met Office warnings of force 3-4 in the West! We picked up several porpoises along the route and one unidentified animal but given the perfect calm and overcast conditions, we saw less than I expected. Particularly off West Angle and around the entrance to Milford Haven where we have seen quite a lot in the past ,given similar conditions. This is of course the beauty of being able to repeat surveys along the same route, a clearer picture should emerge over time. With Briggs help we should be able to continue and expand these surveys developing a bigger more accurate picture of our inshore waters and its marine wildlife. An added bonus is the ability to see the fantastic birdlife particularly Common Scoter feeding in Carmarthen Bay, see Pemb's Bird Blog...