Thursday 19 May 2016

Yesterday: Strumble Diary postscript...

After Kens epic session yesterday, Anna and Marged popped down there from 2 pm till 3. On arrival they saw a couple of porpoises and then struggled to see any more. Kens porp's were seen on a dropping neap tide.And for A&M it was just beginning to flood. I went down there from 4 pm  until about 6. as the tide was really beginning to flood. Again it was a bit slow to start but then the porpoises started coming back on the tide and a got some shots. There were no gannets feeding and there also seemed to be some interactions going on with couples and trio's close together. I wish we had the time to see what was happening right through the tidal cycles day on day!







The thing is at Strumble the tidal patterns are far more complex because of the shape of the headland and the ride races follow different patterns as the lunar cycle switches from smaller (neap) tides to larger (spring) tides. Just to add to the confusion spring tides occur at either end of the lunar month e.g. new moon and full moon.  consequently we get them all year round not just in the spring. for a more lucid explanation than I can give shttp://www.astronomyknowhow.com/moon-tides.htmee:
Either way, the size and strength of the tides hitting the headland and the underwater rocks can make it very confusing.