Strumble Diary 02/03/16

This morning Cliff asked me to write a small piece on the challenges of photographing porpoise etc at Strumble and what keeps me going back. I was of course delighted to oblige, but it's days like today that really sum it up for me. It's all the elements coming together to present a challenge and where the result is never guaranteed. So with the shipping forecast for the Irish sea saying "Northwesterly storm force 10 decreasing severe gale force 9 imminent" at 10:00 this morning how could I not take up that challenge and if the resultant images further the aims of Sea Trust then being turned inside out by the wind while watching over tempestuous seas is a challenge that I relish. The first image below shows the sea state a few hundred yards off the lookout with swells hitting twenty Feet in places being whipped up by that strong NW wind. You can appreciate then how difficult it is to spot and track these small creatures through a long lens with a narrow field of view.