From Alison Ross...

Hi Cliff. Hope you're well. No porpoise sightings in the Sound on my last 2 visits, including a watch over 2 tide changes yesterday, Sun.30th.May. I was so relieved to have some positive sightings today Mon.31st. although low numbers. I saw 2, maybe 3 come down the Sound as the ebb tide got going & I had a sighting of one porp in slack water on the far side of the tide race at the south end. A lot of boat activity of one kind or another in the Sound at the moment. I'm starting to feel concerned about the lack of porpoise presence there but hopefully this is just temporary.....all the best, Alison.

Report from Stevo

Report Thursday 27th May, Sailing between Pen Angles and Strumble Head,l Ian Hotchin saw 3 pairs of Harbour Porpoises and also he saw a lone porpoise as well they were all heading east. And there were some gulls and also some gannets as well in the area but mile out from Strumble Head there were hundreds and hundreds of gannets. The Harbour Porpoises didn't feed at all and also no baby's but some few adults were seen and they were cruising on the surface.

A weekend of Cetaceans... 22-23/5/2010

From Stacey Wall, Sea Trust/Celtic Diving marine mammal observer,

During the hottest weekend of the year so far. I encountered both bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoise.
Setting off from Fishguard on Saturday aboard Celtic Diving's, dive boat “Wanderin’ Star”, the sea was as flat and as calm as I have ever seen it. I was anticipating much cetacean action with the perfect surveying sea state. However as we travelled further north into Cardigan Bay I was disappointed to see nothing other than the odd gannet or gull.
Over six hours later as we were heading back to Fishguard I spotted the unmistakable rise of dorsal fins. The animals were very far away and using binoculars I identified them as bottlenose dolphins, estimated 4 mammals in total. I was satisfied.
The Sunday brought more fine weather and sea state. This time the dive boat headed in the opposite direction, towards and past Strumble Head. On the way to the first dive site I spotted a pod of porpoise. They were easily seen without binoculars and I alerted the divers to them, to their delight. I estimated there to be four or five animals in that pod.
We then reached the dive location and as the briefing was being given I still searched the horizon. I spotted another pod of porpoise passing by and through the binoculars I saw the small group of approximately 5 adults had a calf with them, making me smile inside and out.

Distant Dolphins

Whilst enjoying the glories of North Pembrokeshires coastal wildflowers, we stopped off at Ceibwr Bay. Its a place near where I have encountered Bottles whilst in various boats so its always worth a look. Sure enough a couple of miles out, gannets were feeding and beneath them big swirls of water and Bottlenose dorsals and tails. Far too distant to get a real indication of numbers but there seemed to be quite a few, circa 15-20. The picture aint going to win any prizes but it does show the kind of distant view you might get of a bottle. They were feeding on the surface and there is an impression of size and power, that you would not get with a Porpoise or a Common Dolphin. This also shows the advantage of calm weather viewing as were there any significant waves, the dolphins would not have been obvious.

Abersoch Dolphins

Sent in by Peter and Anne - Picture taken just off Abersoch on the 17may. there were a group of about 8 travelling very fast and obviously feeding.

Saga of dead dolphin...

I sent Mark Williams report of the dead Dolphin to Rod Penrose who is responsible for dealing with stranded marine mammals turtles etc,

Wednesday...
I’m pretty sure the same dolphin has made landfall today at Penbryn. It’s on its right side and the piece of wood is missing so I cant compare damage. Unfortunately I had to retreat due to danger of being cut-off by an incoming tide but I’ll try again tomorrow if its still there.


Yesterday ...
Bottlenose dolphin at Penbryn was a 2.52 metre female, I’ve taken basic samples but it is too far gone to determine a cause of death.
regards
rod.

I met up with Rod on Wednesday and our thoughts were that the dead Dolphin had been washed up on some high tide mark along with other debris. Pounded by surf, the stick and some large pebbles had been lodged in the carcass in cavities opened up by scavengers. Later on a big tide refloated it and thence Mark found the rather gruesome corpse complete with stick etc.
Bottlenose corpses are rarely found despite the fact that there seems to be a semi resident population of 300+ in Cardigan Bay and several must die each year, presumably. At 2.5 meters its a relatively small animal.

To report any strandings contact...

Rod Penrose, Strandings Co-ordinator (Wales)
Tel: 01239 682405

Stena Europe survey 24-25th May

Rich Crossen, Alison Ross and myself carried out a Ferry survey betwixt Fishguard and Rosslare sadly missing the weekends calm clear spell, although conditions yaesterday were not bad . We saw several porpoise and also a pod of around 20 Common Dolphins just before the Tusker Rock. A half hour watch from 9 p.m. was interesting bird wise with hundreds of Terns fishing in the fading light with a brief appearance from an Arctic Skua. The day closed with a Stunning sunset.
Sadly the weather window closed and our return trip this morning was windy with a stiff SE which whipped up the sea, making surveying a waste of time. None the less we did spot a few porpoises feeding under gannets off Strumble so even in poor conditions the Strumble Porpoises turned up trumps!

Catch up!

Hi Cliff,
very very quiet for porpoise last week in Ramsey sound on the occasional one or two, seems they may all be at Strumble.
Was very interested in the posting by Libman, wonder if we ask if he got any pictures of the porp with the damaged dorsal or if he could may be draw it from memory.

Sadly I was away this weekend but we are doing a ferry survey today, hoping the fog holds off!

I agree with Malcolm, "Libmans" Porpoise with the damaged fin is very interesting and could possibly be "splitfin". Heres a photo to remind everyone. It also shows the pale/black shoulders and back of a porpoise which may lead to confusion as Porpoises can be surprisingly boisterous.

Of course the possibility of Common Dolphins is also quite reasonable, we have records for this time of the year in the area. The calf flipping sounds a bit sinister, we know Bottles kill porp calves and last year we had some evidence that Common Dolphins might be doing the same. Did I get this right? or were the calves/juveniles just flipping themselves. Such input is really valuable to us so any further comment from "Libman" would be much appreciated!

Cardigan Sweep Up

Haven't posted for a while, but have been keeping records of sightings for Sea Trusts records...they need tidying before I send through as a batch....boats and paper!

LOTS of Bottlenose activity between Cardigan Island and Mwnt over past fortnight, particularly over the last week...at lifeboat training yesterday had a pair of youngsters bowriding with the D Class ILB....you are so close to them in the little D...both very inquisitve turning to look at us from beneath....quite a bit of jumping too. In the space of 2 hours (1030 to 1230) there wasn't any point when there wasn't a (or several) bottlenose around. Apart from the odd exuberant jump, they seemed to be just cruising and relaxing...

Mark (skipper Vigilance) has been working in the bay over the past week too and despite his sad sighting has been seeing Bottlenose regularly all week....he also thought it worth mentioning that there were several bottlenose and a pair of porps together off Newquay last week....he says the interface all seemed well tempered enough....perhaps its the heat!

Dan

Strumble Head

Saturday 22nd May was a good day for observations - calm seas, fine, sunny weather, if a little misty in the distance. From arriving at 11.00 a.m. porpoises were very much in evidence and gannet and gull activity suggested a lot of feeding. At mid-day I noticed a group of "porpoises" which were behaving differently - a group of 4 - 5 were much more active, moving more quickly and lunging through the water, presumably chasing fish. They also showed themselves clear of the water and then I realised that their flanks were tan in colour ahead of and below the dorsal fin. I'm guessing that these were Common Dolphin. Later in the afternoon a small group of observers from Orca turned up and together we saw impressively large numbers of porpoises. It seemed that wherever you looked there were porpoises. Apart from the sheer numbers, two things were notable; a porpoise that came quite close inshore had a truncated, damaged dorsal, and several times we saw smaller (juvenile ?) porpoises apparently flung or flipped out of the water.

Skokholm and Grassholm

A trip out to Grassholm and back via Skokholm yesterday evening in incredibly calm conditions produced about 7 porpoises: 2 individuals mid-way between the two islands, and two small groups just to the east of Skokholm on the way back. The tide was just turning to run North. A wonderful evening: loads of auks, Gannets, and several groups of Manxies, especially later in the evening.

How did this animal die?

Thanks for this Mark,

I have seen some pretty sad sights in the sea around here but none quite so puzzling. We are told its a bottlenose and Mark ( Mark Williams, skipper of the "Vigilance") may be right but in this state of decomposition its difficult to be certain. The size compared to the gull looks about right though.

It seems to have been dead a long time, several months would be my guess. Cold salt water tends to keep things pretty fresh so I would think it was over 6 months, possibly more. The tail appears to have been detached so it could have been caught in a net. The wood impaled in its body is pretty gruesome but may have happened after death, possibly used in getting the animal out of a net? Maybe it breached and landed on the wood impaling itself? Difficult to know if the rest of the stuff coming out from the cavity is tissue or some foriegn body somehow associated with the wood.. or not. I will try to get more details from Mark which may shed more light on the subject

Nice to know the other stuff was alive and well!

Hi Cliff,

We did a survey up from Neyland on Tuesday and unfortunately came across the body of a bottlenose dolphins (please see photo attached). Note the tail is missing and the wood. On a better note we saw loads of porpoise from St.Davids hd up to Fishguard and about 16 bottlenose between Llangranog and Newquay. The dead one was found 1/4 mile off Mwnt.

Mark

Vigilance

Porps at the end of the day...

An evening visit to Strumble showed a steady stream of manxies making their way back to the islands and a reasonably flat sea as the tide was just on the turn. I scanned for porp's and was rewarded with several sightings including a mother and calf. As the tide picked up more animals were visible and I estimated around fifty but it could have been more as they kept appearing further out towards Strumble Bank. Rain stopped play.

This is a huge improvement on last year when the scallop fishing was in full swing and we hardly saw a porpoise around Strumble for months.

Picture Micheal Rich

Great to get the input from Sophie and Anna, also thanks Elfyn

Bottlenose Dolphins off Aberystwyth

My wife's colleague Ray Bowen is in the enviable position of living on Felin-y-Mor Road Aberystwyth which overlooks Aberystwyth harbour and Cardigan Bay. Ray has told me that they often see dolphins from the comfort of their home during the summer months. Just after 8pm this evening Ray was speaking on the phone with my wife when his daughter Sophie Bowen stated that she was at that very moment watching three bottlenose dolphins from the lounge window of their home the dolphins were foraging and occasionally breaching out of the water. She stated that one of the dolphins was smaller than the other two and therefore surmised that they were a family of bull cow and calf but I reckon they were probably a cow and this years calf and a previous offspring. Ray described the sea as being mirror calm. How many people I wonder can boast that they can actually regularly observe bottlenose dolphins from their lounge window!
Anyway Sophie thanks for reporting your observations and do please register on this site and enter any observations you have of dolphins or porpoises your contribution will be of interest to all of us who regularly look at this blog and it helps to build up a picture of the movements of our semi-resident population of bottlenose dolphins.

Information entered on behalf of Sophie Bowen.

Cardigan Bottles

From Anna McArthur (age 9) - On Sat 15^th of May, I went on a boat trip with my family. We travelled from Cardigan estuary towards Mwnt and saw a pod of bottlenose dolphins. We saw at least three at a time, but there may have been more around us because there were smaller dolphins as well as the larger dolphins that were jumping out of the sea. It was spectacular and I was really happy to see them but also very surprised. My mom and dad have taken photographs. I have used the internet and looked into books and now am very interested in dolphins.

Thanks Anna!

Distant Dolphin - Weever Fish - Dont Panic!

This morning dawned calm and frosty so I went down to Fishguard Harbour to see if our Bottles were around. There was no sign of them off the outer breakwater but scanning into the distance maybe 3 or more miles away, I could just make out some birds feeding . As I strained through my bins to make out what was happening a dolphin breached, just once...

Had a great day with students from Pembrokeshire College yesterday doing one of our WOW (Wildlife Observer Wales (Sea Life ) courses. During one of our seine netting sessions we caught the little beauty pictured above (not the dolphin!) It is a Lesser Weaver Fish and the little sail like fin just behind its head has venomous spines which you really do not want to tread on... Although not life threatening the pain caused is intense and lasts for a up to a couple of hours. They grow up to about 15 cm (6 inches in length) but this one was only about a half of that. Interestingly we also caught two more really small specimens about 1 cm long. Having spoken to Richard Joseph our Pembrokeshire fish expert, it seems they are relatively common and believes the danger of being stung by one is pretty negligable. If you are unfortunate, hot liquid will help lessen the pain apparently !

Not Wales but Whales from a Sea Trust Supporter!

Hi Cliff, How are you?

You've probably noted my absence from the Stena Europe, as I'm now employed in Fisheries Protection for the Scottish Government, mostly in the North sea.
Nevertheless, I'm still observing!! Just a short while ago, at 2030hrs BST in position 60 34'N 001 11'E, I spotted at least 2, possibly 3 Killer Whales, very close to the ship. They stayed around for a few mins, but unfortunately were very camera shy. I'll keep me eyes peeled though and hopefully catch them next time!!

Early/late?

Update: 11th May

Hi Cliff,
here is a nice pic of the Ramsey Sound pup and cow, I 'm calling the first of the year.
No porps in the sound today and no sign of this pair, i think mum as moved them to safer haven, away from the prowling bull that was around.
maybe?
cheers
Malcolm

Hi Cliff,
At the South end of Ramsey Sound today. There were a couple of poroise,then a few, then several, (7/8) then they were gone!
More interesting was the seal pup by the old copper mine at Penmaenmelyn.
I saw the cow feeding a two to three week old pup, I had previously seen this cow hauled out at the same spot a couple of times recently, (she has a deep cut/scar on her back) but I did not know there was a pup.
I got some pictures but not managed to download them yet, nice bit a film too which might be useable at the ocean lab display.
Will get them to you soonish,

cheers
Malcolm.

Strumble porps again!

Hi Cliff ,

Had an hour at Strumble this evening during which there were a series of feeding groups of birds instigated by the Porp activity beneath.At one point i had a count of at least 12 Porps feeding in a group with up to 20 Gannets & 50 or so gulls above them & diving . These groups ranged from past Mackeral rock to directly out in front of the lookout.

Adrian

Kyaking with porp's!

Hi Cliff,
spent a day surveying in Ramsey Sound yesterday just one porpoise coming up the sound against the tide about an hour into the ebb phase, not the norm.
Different approach today, I got on my kayak and paddled round from Porth Clais to just beyond St Justinians and then paddled out into the middle of the sound and waited, perfect conditions, neap tide, very little wind, overcast, right on cue a group of three and another group of two porpoise came down the sound, with a little paddling I was able to drift down and got some great views as they surfaced, a couple of times within 20ft. Beyond the bitches the three turned back upstream and passed close by again, with the tidal stream now getting going I headed off behind shoe rock around Pen Pedol and back to Porth Clais, totally elated.
I will be doing this again, next time with the camera too.
cheers
Malcolm
Hmm, maybe they are all at Strumble?

From: David Brittain : Porps

Hi, Cliff spent about 5 hours at Strumble, choppy conditions but porps still showing well, especially in tidal race near lighthouse, loads of gannets mostly young birds.
Great watching the calfs/juv's playing and what looked liked torpedoing, saw at least 20 + porps in total at least 5 juvs and the rest were adults spread out in groups of 3 or 4-
at least 1 juv/calf in each group
Sorry missed on mon couldnt get there.
Cheers Dave
Stacey Wall and self watched very similar porp display yesterday though very choppy and no juveniles identified as such. They were spread out over at least a mile and we estimated at least 50 animals . The very bright sunlight actually showed a lot of animals under the water as well as those actually surfacing.
One thing is certain , not much chance of ever actually being certain of numbers , but there are a lot!

Strumble porp watch

Despite blustery conditions with a cold, head on northerly wind, the brigh conditionds tempted around 30 porp watchers to our Strumble watch. And they were not dissapointed! a nice feeding frenzy of gannets gulls and auks were feeding over and amongst the porps. Plenty there and we managed to get evereyone on them including some superb views through the telescope!. A nice way to end the holiday weekend! Thanks to Colin Butters and Miguel Ortuno for helping out!

Carregwasted/Fishguard Bay Porp's

From Stacey Wall, /Celtic Diving,
Hi Cliff,was out on the boat this weekend. On Sat 1st May Mark saw a small pod of porpoise, around 4 animals, just off Caragwasted. I didnt see them unfortunately and wasnt alerted to them so cant give any details Im afraid. Stacey

Ramsay and Skomer...

Hi Cliff,
I did another dusk dawn last week, but not so many porpoise, no more than three or four.
Spent yesterday and stayed overnight on Skomer.
6-8 porpoise seen North of the Island with a further 12-15 at the west end, all quite active with lots of gannets in attendance too.
This morning there were again 6-8 Porpoise a little less active but closer in at the West end of the Island. Great to hang out with the shearwaters last night.
cheers Malcolm.