WOW...Porps dolphins and a sunfish too!

Another  three day  Sea Trust /Pembrokeshire College Wildlife Observer Wales "Cetaceans" course successfully delivered today.
We started on Tuesday at the college, with a morning in the classroom working on cetacean ID and then put it into practice by visiting Ramsay Sound. The porpoises put on a magnificent show including mothers and calves showing nicely, seen from the "Copper Mine" location.
Wednesday was based around  Fishguard Harbour/Strumble Head with biology lessons and tests in our Yellow Sumarine workshop facility at the Ocean Lab. Coincidentally Ian Hotchin phoned to say there were two porp's off the harbour as we were in the Ocean Lab, thanks Ian! We fared less well at Strumble with only one porpoise seen and then not by many.. but it demonstrateded the fickleness of Nature and we all had the opportunity to enjoy the sun at one of Pembrokeshires most impressive headlands.
We went out with a bit of a bang today at Newquay, with bottlenose dolphins putting on a great show from the harbour wall. The first group on Steve Hartleys "Sulaire" had close up bottles from the boat, our second dipped,  but for most of us the brief appearance of a very small, very early, but extremely obliging sunfish was ample recompense. My picture is far from "centred" but I was on top of the lookout position over Steve's Cabin so was rolling like a bucking bronco! It was a great bunch of Students and we all had a gas! Still one place left next week, first come first served, see: WOW courses on  right of the blog!

Not just fair weather friends!

Friday 24th June
Dad,Verena, and I were at Mwnt from 3pm until 5pm.
We saw a group of 7 Bottlenose dolphins with 2 calves, travelling slowly eastwards about 1/4 mile north of Mwnt headland.
It was drizzling continually and we got wet wet wet.
Cheers
Stevo

Dinas (Pemb's) Porps...

Porpoise sighting off rocks Dinas Island South feeding near gannet 11.45 sat 25/6/2011
Chris Nash

Verenas bottles Dans bottles same bottles? sounds like it!

After my success in the morning yesterday (Wednesday 22nd) , I went back to Pen Anglas in the afternoon. Soon I spotted 3 adult Bottlenose Dolphins hanging about between Pen Anglas and the outer breakwater. For a short time they were fishing, and lots of splashy action was going on. I could also see a few gannets diving in. After that they just moved round in circles sometimes coming relatively close towards me.

I had another look from Harbour Village this afternoon, (Thursday 23rd) .  All I could see was a single Porpoise. Probably a sign that the Bottlenose Dolphins had moved on.

See you


Verena

It also seems according to our Stena Shipmate Andrew, that the dolphins were seen from the Lifeboat on Wednesday evening! Dan probably caught them making their way home!

Pod of 5 Bottlenose Dolphins (inc. Top Notch and Calf?) between Newport & Ceibwr

A better day for water sampling with the EA today (Teifi & Nyfer estuaries and coastal sites between)..... On the return journey on a choppy sea between Newport and Ceibwr we picked up a pod of 5 Bottlenose Dolphins (one juvenile).....

Interestingly, and related to Cliffs post below I am sure that today's mother with calf was Top Notch.....with the same 'little one' we saw so much in Cardigan last year (?) and who I was almost sure was the playful mother and calf we picked up outside Fishguard breakwater when working off Strumble last month.....

The video tells the rest....hope you enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0_ItDpbVec&feature=youtube_gdata

Verenas Early Morning Bottle's...confirmation..

An early call from Verena "I am at Harbour Village and two Bottlenose are making their way from Pen Anglas To the breakwater....

I jumped in the car and drov to meet her , in a few minutes we were watching the Dolphins from the breakwater. They were in to the sun so the pics are not so good, but the female with a calf may be identifiable... There were four animals in the first pod , but a second pod of around six came in from the bay, there were lots of gannets feeding and obviously a lot of fish. As the second group approached the first slipped away into the harbour towards lower town, as if not wanting to be joined by the second group, This group didnt hang around, but wandered back into the bay. The first pod snuck out over on the far side of the harbour enterence , soon all were gone.

Sent photo's off to Laura at Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Group who have an ID  catalogue of most of the Cardigan Bay Dolphins compiled over many years, and got a result!

Yep, it's Topnotch (100 in the catalogue).

Thanks again for this - nice to know what the CB dolphins are up to!
Laura Mears


Project Officer, Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Group

So it was "Topnotch" an animal I have seen several times around Mwnt over the years and a familiar animal to many observers., great stuff !!!

From Andy Rickard...

Hi Cliff, local fishermen Alan and Graham report large numbers of common dolphins near Milford Haven at the moment, also some pilot whales? but dont give out exact position,  large females hundreds of animals...
cheers
Andy...

Hmm..., Fair enough Andy and thank them please, yep we have had a superpod of Common Dolphins with you on the Cartlett Lady at this time of the year in 2009, so happy with that estimate.  Pilot Whales would be unusual but  as we  know not impossible. Risso's might be nearer the mark perhaps, We need to get out there ASAP to suss this out! allthingsgood, cliff

Pic's Rich Crossen
Verena, Stevo and the Walrus had an interesting porpoise encounter off the Fishguard Harbour Breakwater  this afternoon with a female and calf being pushed about by another porpoise, possibly a male intent on procreation? Kinda looked that way!

We weren't the only ones watching Porpoises today!

Monday 20th June
Chris and I went to Strumble Head and saw roughly 12 Harbour Porpoises, maybe more in the ebbing tide race.
The Gannets were circling and diving where the porpoises were sighted.
The sea conditions were flat calm and not a ripple.
The time of the sightings was 13: 10 - 2:30pm.
Cheers
Stevo

Ramsay Sound Porpoises

An invite from Greg and Lisa to help set up some cetacean monitoring on Ramsay was a good opportunity to show off our new mobile recording system, so Verena and myself popped over with Alison Ross to have a look at Ramsay Sound from a different perspective and demonstrate the system.
We boarded the Thousand Islands "Gower Ranger" and made our way over the Sound to Ramsay where we met Greg, Lisa and seasonal warden Nia. After a cup of tea and a chat, we were soon seated overlooking the sound and found a group of half a dozen feeding Gannets betraying the presence of at least the same number of Porpoises. We couldnt have timed it better. Verena fired up the tablet and we were soon entering the sightings onto the GIS mapping system. I think its fair to say everyone was pretty impressed. Thankfully we got back to the farm house before the rain started properly. Steve Rosser another Sea Trust stalwart was also there volunteering with his wife Marion so more tea! it really is a great place to visit or volunteer on.
The rain set in as we motored back on the Gower Ranger with the other day visitors but no one seemed to mind getting a bit wet, well worth it! Even better we will be putting together regular cetacean monitoring from Ramsay again. Thanks again Lisa, Greg, and Thousand Islands.

Michaels Strumble porp pic's

These pic's taken by Michael on Wednesday show two things. Firstly that Porpoises breed at Strumble , also the patterns of the complex strong tidal races that are the main feature of Strumble.   Of course these facts are well known to those of us who have spent time observing the fantastic wildlife that these high energy  tidal features attract to Strumble. We have observed and recorded Porpoises with calves throughout the seasons and it is probably one of the most prolific year round porpoise habitats in Europe, perhaps the world. The first image shows a very young calf and mother pair, the calf probably less than a week old.
The fierce  tidal currents and recent scramble for alternative energy has brought new and unforseen potential threats to our porpoise populations. The maelstrom of currents which feed and protect these little whales are now being eagerly assessed by tidal power companies. Its our task to try and make sure we know what we've got before its gone and let everyone else know as well, thanks Michael!

From Rod Penrose...

If any one can help in this, or if you find a stranded animal, please let Rod know!

Dear All,

I picked up a fresh adult female harbour porpoise from St Ishmael, nr Kidwelly Carmarthenshire yesterday.
As the dorsal fin was so prominently marked I thought I would circulate it on the off-chance somebody may have previously recorded this animal.

Please feel free to circulate this image wider if you think somebody may have a match.

Regards

Rod.

Rod Penrose, Strandings Co-ordinator (Wales)
UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP).
World Wide Web: http://www.ukstrandings.org/
British Isles & Republic of Ireland 'TURTLE' Database Manager.
Tel: 01239 682405
International: +44 1239 682405
Email: rodpenrose@strandings.demon.co.uk
World Wide Web: http://www.strandings.com/

Old friends passing by!

Whilst surveying the seemingly desert like, turbid brown waters of the eastern Bristol Channel, I got a text from Michael Rich , ace photographer and Sea Trust supporter from Reading. He had been on Skomer and seen a porpoise with calf off the Garland Stone. Thanks for taking the trouble Michael!
Having abandoned the Vigilance to predicted rain, tempest and fog and got the train back home this afternoon, the weather forcasters mislead us again and the "Vigilance" made its way around Carmarthen Bay in reasonable conditions . Mate/Bosun, Martin clocked the first Sunfish of the year , well done Martin! Thanks to Skipper Mark, Environment Agency scientific officer, Karen and Martin for their help and support , and thanks to Gerry Walker of Briggs for letting us aboard their vessel!

Ramsay report from Malcolm...

Hi Cliff,
after a failry poor May its great to be seeing more porpoise in the sound.
I was out on Thursday and Saturday (but not Friday !!! when the Risso's put in an appearance...AARGGHH).

Thursday was a little frustrating the turn of the tide was also a busy time for boats crossing the sound so porpoise were a bit spread out and keeping their heads down but I logged about 5 animals moving down the sound.
Saturday turn of the tide was later and there was an uninterupted passage of porpoise down the sound with some porpoise lingering much longer in the area of the bitches.
I spent a good 20 minutes enjoying porpoise surface rushing, gannets diving and fish jumping!

The last couple of hours of my survey was at the South of the sound where I watched porpoise with Gannets circling overhead.
A mother with calf showed up in the calmer water at the edge of the race a couple of times.

But no Risso's!!
I can't believe I have spent five years watching Ramsey Sound and now missed Risso's 3-4 times by the odd day and even by hours!.

I was not the only one out in the fading sunshine, have attached some pics for a wet sunday,(not RC quality) cheers Malcolm.

Happy to see porpoise pic's whatever the quality! thanks Malcolm

Default setting in Steve's brain working!

Just after our encounter with the Risso's (see ferry report below) Steve was bitterly complaining that he had never seen a breaching Risso's and he had missed it this time.

I received the following email and pictures this morning!

"Hi Cliff

I know why I did not see the Rissos jumping. I was looking through the view finder!!
"
Tight lines

Steve

If its June it must be Minke time! and Risso's and Porp's and Common Dolphins...

Verena, Steve Rosser and the Walrus, boarded the Stena Europe on Friday afternoon after an absence of over a month. May 2011 was the first month we had failed to manage a survey in reasonable conditions since April 2004 when we first started the Sea Trust-Stena Europe surveys.

Conditions were now pretty good and we sailed out of Fishguard Harbour equipped with our new GIS mobile recording equipment set up on the bridge wing. Almost immediately we ran into Porpoises from Pen Anglas and around Strumble with four sightings of six animals including a mother and calf, in the first 20 minutes.
The sea state was 2-1 and we had a couple of unidentified sightings and a porp as we crossed mid channel but it was only when we could clearly see the Irish coast about ten miles off the Tusker that things really started kicking off...
A distant Minke, but in the crystal clear air and flat calm sea, easily seen and identified, began a remarkable sequence of sightings. This one surfaced several times and everyone saw it well.
Soon after another much closer Minke surfaced and we cursed ourselves for not having a camera ready. Two different Minke's is something I had only seen once before on our very first Survey back in April 2004!

We were pretty chuffed but then Steve spotted some tall fins off our port bow, a pod of six Risso's (our first of the year). The pod split with one animal continueing east on its own, the others began leaping and splashing around in what looked like some kind of group interaction. Sadly the ferry dosen't stop and soon this playful mob were left behind and we were passing the Tusker. Not long after we saw another tall fin with a very small one next to it, a female with what looked like a very small calf. 12 sightingsa in all, including 19 individuals of three species! in just over threee hours. That has to be world class cetacean watching!

But that was not the end of the days excitement as having had some food in Rosslare, it was still light enough for an hour mores watching. on the evening leg back to Fishguard. It was a superb sunset although a breeze had created some ripple and as the light faded, Verena manged to bag our third Minke of the day!

The morning return trip was a little bit of an anti climax but we still managed six more sightings of seven Porpoise and also bagged a small pod of distant but acrobatic Common Dolphins, adding another species, totalling four for the combined total!
Better still, all were recorded both on paper and on our new mobile recording system, ready to be sent off electronically to the Colin and Kate at the West Wales Biodiversity Information Centre.
Really enjoyed Iolo's contributions to Spring Watch from Skomer but its a shame they didnt have any cetaceans!

Risso's - Ramsey Sound

8 Risso's dolphins in Ramsey Sound today. Thanks to Thousand Islands for reporting them. Also c.100 common dolphins off Grassholm earlier this week.

Skomer / Skokholm area

A large group of Common Dolphins, 50 probably a conservative estimate, feeding between the two islands around 10.30 this morning. The first dolphins we've seen from Skokholm this year, although Porpoise seen in small numbers regularly now we've had a few flat seas.

Jerry (Skokholm)

Sulaire and Bottles!

Hi Cliff, have loaded the photos from the 1st of June, Newquay Head,don't think they are that spectacular, but you get the gist. Glad the course went well. Hopefully I will be on it next year, so watch this space. Had a bit of a seabird extravaganza on our walk. Saw 2 Gannets, a Chough, very close feeding in the field. Lots of Cormorants and Razorbills. . Take care keep up the good work. Let us know if you are doing any boat trips in Summer. ALL THE BEST. TANYA.x

Hi Tanya its really nice to get a shot of the Dolphins around "Sulaire" taken from the shore. Anyone who tries taking dolphin photo's knows just how hard it is trying to guess where they willl appear. Well done! Ps. just noticed we have shot past 40,000 page views, only a couple of months into our third year of the Whales in Wales blog! Well done Mr Crossen.
Boat trip details can be seen by clicking on the Sea Trust Wildcat Trips opposite, allthingsgood, cliff

More Strumble stuff from Stevo and Chris....

Monday 6th June
Chris and I saw roughly 12 Harbour Porpoises but could be more in the ebbing tide race of Strumble Head at 1:30 pm. The Gannets were diving and circling in the area where the porpoises were sighted. The behaviour that we've seen was the porpoioses were displaying well with lots of tail slapping...and we had lovely weather!
Cheers Stevo
P:S I think the sea is getting warmer because lots of sightings been happening during May is that right Cliff ?
Hi Stevo, water temperatures are 13C around Strumble at the moment so not bad for the time of the year although a bit cold for a dip!
Tail slapping sounds interesting have not seen any of that recently!

Boat Trips to Skomer and Grassholm

Andy Davies, who lives near Marloes and runs the Pembrokeshire Wildlife blog is running boat trips out to Skomer and Grassholm on Thursday and, hopefully, Sunday evenings when conditions are good. The trips will visit Skomer on the way out to see Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills etc and then go out to Grassholm to see the gannetry - always a real spectacle. Then into St Brides Bay on the way back to link up with Manx Shearwaters returning to the islands. Whilst primarily aimed at the birds there will be a chance of seeing Porpoises and Common Dolphins.
The trips will leave Martin's Haven at 5 p.m. on The Lady Helen (sister boat to the Dale Princess) and return around 10:30 p.m. Cost will be around £60 to £80 per head depending on the number on each trip.
If you are interested please e mail Andy on andy@andydavies.info . He will add you to a database and contact you a couple of days in advance if the trip is going to run.

Porpoise watching

There has been a lot of cetacean activity around Fishguard this week, with our WOW Sea Bird course students watching gannets diving over at least twenty porps on Wednesday afternoon,  followed by a pod of at least six bottles off the outer breakwater in the early evening.
This afternoon Verena and the Walrus had another look from the outer breakwater and we were treated to half an hour of quality if somewhat intriguing  porpoise watching,
Verena spotted a porpoise reasonably close off the Cow and Calf's rocks, I got onto it and than realised there was a very small calf just behind it. The adult disappeared and the calf wobbled about in a somewhat confused manner before heading off in the opposite direction. It looked extremely young, at a guess no more than a day old, the dorsal seemed still a bit flopped over. I was concerned that the adult seemed to have abandoned it but after a minute or two it and the calf were seen in the same vicinity briefly before the adult disappeared again. The calf plopped around and even attempted some spy hopping, seemingly distressed by the repeated abandonment. I have seen mothers leave a calf and go off on a feeding foray for a few minutes but some how this mother seemed not as connected as usual...
Having been in the sad situation of finding a similar sized juvenile all alone in the harbour, catching it and sitting with it in the sea for a couple of hours before ending up watching it being euthanized by the vet last year, I may have been guilty of getting a bit emotionally involved. 
Perhaps it had simply been due to a mother lacking the necessary bonding and abandoning its calf? Maybe I was overreacting. None the less it seemed that the mother was not entirely aware of her maternal obligations as she seemed to keep leaving the porplet trying to catch up in her wake, rather than sticking close to it as it made its way out from the shore. Our last view was of the couple of them heading out into choppier water with the calf close-ish but not glued to the mothers side as is more often the case in such circumstances.
Lets hope my fears are proved wrong in the next couple of days...