A Day of Days

Once or twice a year we get days out of the ordinary at Strumble where the normal becomes the abnormal and we usually get left with rather large smiles as these are usually positive experiences. Today was one such day of days but up on a different level to anything I've had before. It started quietly when I arrived at the start of the flood and the tide race hadn't yet formed. In the calm waters off to the west I watched as several small groups of porpoise moved NE in readiness for the feeding run against the increasing tide. As I scanned the distance I spotted a disturbance about three miles out and assumed it to be a pod of common dolphin. I pointed them out to a lady visiting the area and we watched them feeding and thrashing about as they moved west across our view.
      As luck would have it they turned SW and came closer as they moved through. There were approximately 50-60 animals spread over a wide area, some pairs others in larger groups but all moving together. Some (roughly half) carried on around the lighthouse at a distance but the rest headed into the tide race. By this time I was doing double takes as I felt there were bottlenose in there too. It turned out they were all bottlenose and before we knew it there were 30-40 spread from the lighthouse to the other side of Mackerel Point with a good percentage of them being calves or juveniles. Never before have I seen or heard of this number of bottlenose at Strumble but boy what a sight. We do see them there at times but only the odd few and usually at the beginning or end of season as they migrate or return. I'm sorry you all could not be there with me to see this marvel but I hope the images will suffice and convey the superb action that kept us enthralled for the best part of an hour. Nine hours later and I'm still smiling.