We started the year with our porpoise watch and then went on to do a ferry survey yesterday/ today. Calm seas but cold, Steve Rosser and Gaynor Mc Morrin were my hardy companions.
Steve opened the score with two Porpoises on the way out but darkness overtook us long before we got to the Tusker.
A pleasant dinner in the Pub with Mac of the Irish Whale and dolphin Group , Mac spoke of a sighting of what sounds like a superpod of Commons off the Saltee Islands on New Years Day as well as "bushy blows" On a clear day you can just about make out the Saltees in the distance as you head into Rosslare.
A good nights kip on the Stena Europe and breakfast, a fleeting glimpse of a large white gull flying past the harbour wall. probably an Iceland gull.
As we sailed out of the harbour hundreds of Gannets were feeding off the Tusker reef, I felt sure the "superpod must have come round , but no not a single cetacean to be seen. The sea was pretty calm and we scanned and scanned for the usual porpoises but none were to be seen anywhere in the coastal zone.
Just as we passed the Tusker I saw something in the distance as the gap shortened I realised they were Dolphins as a nice pod of about 20 came into our bows. A little further on another much larger pod of 100+ surrounded the ship as we sailed through them, not a super pod by our standards but a lot ! The rest of the passage was pretty uneventful even the usually dependable Strumble porps failed to materialise, none the less not bad for January ! Just received video clip from Gaynor short but sweet!"
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