Gower dolphins

Nine hardy souls turned up at Swansea Marina at 08.30 on Wednesday the 22nd to do a cetacean survey on the Mumbles Motor Boat and Fishing Club Boat Oystercat together with the skipper Dean and 2 crew. The forecast had been iffy for days and the final forecast before sailing was just about doable. We sailed through Tawe Lock at 09.00 in heavy drizzle and within metres encountered 2 porpoise. Fortunately Dean was alert as we were not prepared for such early bounty. ' Where is the on off switch for our GPS?' When we cleared Mumbles Head we steamed due south into the Bristol Chanel and got to West Scarweather Buoy before turning west. As we headed into the wind, a NW about force 4, that we began to take in spray. We kept going at a good pace but sea conditions were far from ideal for surveying. Once sea conditions get above Sea State 4 I loose track of how to differentiate between 5, 6 or 7. Basically it is too rough for constant effort surveying. We got off Worms Head to an area where we have been successful in the past but nothing to be seen. An RAF Hercules C130 was training in the area and used us as a marker to turn and with low cloud holding down the engine noise it was quite deafening. We pushed on to well into the middle of Carmarthen Bay in freshening breeze which was by now a good force 5 gusting 6. As we approached a fishing mark we did get brief views of 2 common dolphins, the one breached well clear of the water to make sure it was spotted. We then did a spot of fishing. A grand total of 5 mackerel were landed (the absence of mackerel this summer off Gower and Pembrokeshire is concerning). We headed back with the wind behind us making for an easier ride and stopped at another fishing mark only a couple of miles out from Gower. Plenty of fish said Dean and true to his word the area was alive with bass. As we steamed up for a second drift over the shoal we were joined by a lively pod of about 10 common dolphins. As there is a total ban on bass for leisure anglers they were all returned but the total was about 40 mostly small fish. Perhaps the conservation measures are now working. We had one more single common dolphin while bass fishing and then headed for home spotting one more porpoise off Oxwich Bay. Conditions were such that none of us unpacked our cameras for fear of damage and the difficulty of photography on a wet pitching deck.