Magical Strumble!!!
The day began misty and drizzly not exactly promising. I spent an hour
in the Ocean Lab and then went for some lunch. After as I drove out of the
drive for some reason I headed up the hill towards Strumble rather than down
towards the Ocean Lab.
For the first hour as I sat in my folding chair, it was only the birds
and a close seal that kept my attention going, with only a couple of Porpoise
sightings. Both were quite close, both of which I missed with the camera...
I was getting a bit restless, the tide was ebbing fast, so i went to
have a look out towards the Lighthouse. The waters off it were really messy
with several gulls as well as divers, cormorants and shags feeding in among the
choppy waves, as were a couple of porpoises, sporadically showing, retreating
west with the tide.
And then I saw three large hooked fins just visible beyond the
Lighthouse/
It looked at last as if my patience had paid off, I fumbled to get a
shot with my camera but by the time I raised it and got it focused they were
gone. Had they gone west and out of view or where they rounding the headland
and coming my way?
I spent the next fifteen minutes seriously scanning but no Risso's
showed although i did at last get my Porpoise shot in among the white horses at
the last of the ebb tide, That’s important because with our Strumble Diary we
are proving without any question of doubt that it should be designated as an
SAC for Harbour Porpoises. Despite the incompetence of JNCC and NRW “Experts”
with their computer modelling and out of date and inadequate data.
A nice couple of walkers stopped by (Ian and Fiona Swan) who live near
the Cromarty Firth in Scotland which got us chatting about the Bottlenose
Dolphins there. Happily, the Porpoises started returning on the flood and I was
lucky enough to be able to show them quite a few Porpoises, some which came in
close enough to be seen with naked eye. Try a s I might I missed them all with
the camera, including a mother and calf but an hour passed pleasantly and I had
a record pic’.
Ian and Fiona headed off back towards Pwll Deri and I settled down in my
chair again. Either way I was hoping our Risso’s would put on a bit of a show and
not long after, I just caught a big fin disappearing below the surface, heading
east about half a mile out and coming from the direction of the lighthouse. I
wasn’t sure if it was the same as the ones I saw before and waited for it/them
to emerge and show themselves again but nope, nothing!
I am constantly surprised by the way cetaceans can just disappear into
the ether. Even big ones like Risso’s in good viewing conditions in an almost
flat calm, so frustrating!!! Twenty minutes later it happened again two fins
spotted going down and then nothing. The area of sea in front of the Strumble
lookout is huge and single handed, I was at a bit of a disadvantage but I knew
which direction they seemed to be heading in. And why were they being so
sneaky, there were no boats, the ferry had long passed and there was no way
they could see me!
Time passed, I got another decent closer Porp’ pic and a couple more
shots of Divers that were floating by on the tide. And then Two more fins
briefly seen I got my camera lined up just in time to shoot a series of huge
splashes. The splashes were obvious in the viewfinder but I could see no
animals what was this all about a split second later I managed a couple of
disappearing fin shots, hmm, a record but what was with the splashes? My heart
was still beating fast and my frustration level was through the roof.
It was over in a flash, the motor drive clicked away and all I could see was splashes...until I got home and downloaded it...and revealed a smiley face which definitely made me smile when I saw it!
But that was still not revealed and I sat smarting with frustration at what seemed to have been a lost opportunity '
But the magic of Strumble began to have its effect. I am not a
scientist, I am a naturalist and I spent most of my boyhood dreaming of walking
the African veldt watching Elephants and big cats. I never made it because I
got fascinated by Strumble she became my mistress and my muse and like any
loved one they can drive you mad or raise your spirits at a glance! I had had a
great afternoon. The sky was brightening as the sun broke through the clouds on
its way down giving me another few minutes of useful light and I managed a
couple more Porp’ pic’s in the dying minutes of the day…
