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| Newquay: staring into a storm.... |
A weekend two day "Cetaceans for Beginners", Wildlife Observers Wales course, loomed and as the weather forecast worsened, we wondered how we would fare with 40+ mph winds whipping the sea into a maelstrom.
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| Putting newly acquired ID skills into practice....(the only dolphin in Newquay) |
Saturday arrived wet and blustery, we spent the morning in the classroom doing ID lectures and tests. After lunch we boarded the minibus and headed off to Newquay in search of some bottles, only to learn they had been around in the morning but moved off out to sea about an hour before our arrival. We watched and waited for an hour as the fierce south westerly piled up the waves in the bay but to no avail and we left the harbour thwarted. I figured we should get them the following morning but no, another long wasted journey.
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| Strumble/Paradise... |
I have to say our students were great and suffered the long unrewarding journeys philosophically, in fact we had a lot of laughs but as we arrived at Strumble to see more mighty waves and churning waters. I thought we were in for another disappointment. Not so...
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| "Small cetacean,small triangular fin...Porpoise! |
Our Strumble porps did us proud and soon everyone was getting their eye in as our porps kept popping up giving everyone the chance to put their training into practice. It was cold and blustery but everyone was loving the experience of observing and recording our smallest cetaceans in the white water created by two days of gales. At some point a single common dolphin leaped clear of the breakers really adding spice to an exciting watch.
All good things come to an end and our course schedule meant we had to get back to the Ocean Lab to finish the paperwork. At the end of the day it takes reliable observers in the field to help us to document and protect our wildlife.
We met Sea Trust supporter Adrian Roger (wdigbirder) above the hide, little did either of us know that Strumble was about to spring another final surprise...
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| Happy cetacean observers.... |