Whales in Wales: A Session in Three Parts

Three parts. A great start, a superb middle and a great end. I'll explain. I arrived to see Cliff settled in his folding chair scanning the waters for porps. I set up and was soon doing my own scanning. As Cliff was watching a few porps at a distance I sighted one closer in toward the point. As it surfaced I rattled of a few shots and realised that the fin was marked with a tear and could be one of our returning porps. (Great start) Rissos! came the cry from Cliff and so my attention was diverted onto them. They stayed around for quite a while and although distant we could clearly see that there were as many calves as adults which led us to believe it was a maternal group. Strangely they came to a halt and just hung in the tide and the group tightened up becoming really calm as if waiting for something. Cliff suggested one could be birthing and the behaviour might have suggested that. I kept an intent watch on them through the lens and did observe one adult seemingly bringing a very small calf to the surface to breath assisting it by supporting it on it's back. (see images below) However we can never be certain and can only describe what we see in front of us. They eventually moved off as the ebb flow peaked and we reverted to spotting porps. (superb middle)
By this time Holly and volunteer Anna joined us just missing the Rissos but keen to photograph any porps passing through. Action was sporadic with just a couple of sightings off the point and the odd animal in the tide race. After an hour or so they left and I stayed a little longer in the company of a local and fellow photographer Anthony from Scleddau and we chatted about the local wildlife and sea life. I had just packed my gear away when Anthony spotted and captured an image of a porp close in. This one's got a torn fin as well he said. In the bag like a shot and my camera was out again handheld this time as I tried to capture it before it moved on. Bingo! another in the bag and a second marked porp of the session. Thanks Anthony for a great end to my session.