Stena Survey, my bit.

I have to agree with Cliff it was a cracking weekend and for me the highlight was the survey trip. It was my first and no doubt not the last. In good company we set off and straight away we were onto the bottlenose outside the breakwater as they rushed toward the ship. The outward trip was interspersed with several porp sightings and further out pods of Common Dolphins and a Minke or two. We had a lovely few minutes as a large pod of commons passed tusker Rock on the way into port.

 A short rest and a meal and it was back at it. We left Rosslare at just about six o'clock and with the sun behind us still high in the sky expectations were high. Firstly it was more porpoise and as we left Tusker Rock behind a fab sighting of a Minke Whale just ahead. Sadly not enough time to get the lens on it though.  Just about half way and I spotted a pod of Commons at a distance and coming our way. Thankfully they kept their course and gave a wonderful opportunity for some photos. As we approached Strumble the sightings dropped off with just a few porpoise recorded. Entering the bay the Bottlenose were still about and we watched as they played around seemingly not bothered by our approach.

Although a cetacean survey it was hard not to be captivated by the wonderful Manx Sheerwaters reflecting off a still sea and as you can imagine my camera was in overdrive. If you would like to see the bird images please take a look at my flickr pages here.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/wdig/