Thanks Cliff for the intro. We headed out of the haven with rather more in the way of wind than the forecast predicted which was a bit concerning as it makes it difficult to see things at a distance. As we plought out further though the wind eased the waves dropped and all was good. It took us a while to come across our first pod of dolphin but when we did they put on a show and at one point we had upward of two hundred within a hundred metres of the boat with very many coming right up close. Alas they moved off and so we steamed out toward the deeps. Several pods moved across our path and the action was epic with full breaches, side breaches, tail standing and just general playfulness around the bow. We came upon a patch of water with sevral pieces of plastic debris which we removed from the water before it did any more damage to the environment. These ranged from 2 one ton whelk sacks plus various pieces of same,(ironically) a Hamley's "bag for life" and an American eider down quilt. In the images below Cliff can be seen with the boat hook removing one of the smaller pieces from the water.
About 26 miles out we turned north and after a quiet spell we headed slowly back toward Skomer Island. On that transit we briefly spotted a Minke Whale. We circled the area for 30 minutes or so but sadly we had no further sightings and no photo. Another few groups of dolphin on the way back in and then it was into the sheltered bays of Skomer to view the bird life. All the usual varieties were present with Razorbills, Guillemots and the comical little Puffins all flying in with beaks full of sand eels for the waiting chicks.
All in all a very productive trip enjoyed by all on board and a big thanks to Andy and Brian for yet another super time afloat.
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| This chap was 20 miles out and was seen devouring a decent size fish. |
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| Cliff holding a Pipe Fish caught up in the recovered debris before returning it to the sea. |
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| like an iceberg 90% of this double duvet was below the surface. |
