A different day weatherwise today with a light southerly wind and increasing sunshine as the morning went on. Richard Stonier was in situ when I arrived and informed me of the presence of Commons in the area. It turned out to be a great session with plenty of action all be it some was quite distant. One notable observation was that as per the past few days the porps were moving through very stealthily in groups ranging from five or six up to twelve to fifteen and not foraging at all to start with with no individuals seen on their own although some were photographed individually within the groups. Small pods of commons kept popping up and were observed feeding all over the tide race while the porpoise kept quiet and distant. A possible theory would be the porpoise coming together in the presence of so many dolphins to protect calves and juveniles.
As the Commons moved further out some of the porpoise came in closer and started feeding in what was left of the tide race in front of the lookout (one breaching twice) while others were seen moving east into Fishguard Bay. Toward the end of the session several small pods of commons were seen moving back to the west on the tide. Another notable was the capture on camera of another marked possibly returning porp with distinct cuts behind the dorsal fin. The shots of it were distant and only noticed during image processing. Another record for the Fin ID Project.
