Thursday 29 September 2016

Porps pop up again!

Yesterday (Wednesday) was a miserable day with almost constant drizzle but around lunchtime Chantelle and I felt the need for some fresh air, so headed off to the breakwater! Overcast skies and mist gave a desolate feel to what seemed an empty if calm sea.
We were hoping for another sighting of the dolphins but it was pretty clear they were not there. after a few minutes a gannet approached did a jink and began circling to reveal a porpoise and calf about 50 metres away coming in our direction.

It seems recently that most of the porpoises we have encountered around the harbour mouth have been mothers with calves. This could be  because it offers good feeding opportunities in reasonably sheltered waters with less chance of the calf being swept away as she feeds.  Recently we have witnessed  both porpoises and dolphins feeding there but not together.There must be a danger for the porpoises of being caught by the dolphins with  potentially fatal results but they still keep coming!