Celtic Wildcat Pelagic, Monday 14 June

 

Sandwiched between two glorious days Monday wasn't the best for the weather with fog and some fairly choppy conditions thrown in with a fair bit of sunshine. As we motored up towards the mouth of the Haven I glimpsed some fins and was pretty sure they were Rissos. Sure enough after a few minutes searching 4 Rissos appeared close into the shore by the West Blockhouse. One animal breached 3 times some way off but otherwise they stayed quite elusive  with long dives, apparently feeding. We stayed with them for a while as they moved into Mill Bay where they indulged in some distant tail slapping before we moved onto Skomer.

 

Just as we were leaving the sight and sounds of the birds of Skomer we saw 2 Porpoises – an adult and it's calf which stayed on the surface for a minute or so as it's mother was, presumably, diving and feeding. 

 

We stopped at Grassholm for half an hour or so which presented the usual amazing spectacle before moving on in search of Dolphins. We encountered several smallish pods of, perhaps, 50/60 animals in all. None were very obliging with just a few joining the Wildcat briefly before continuing on their way but great to see Dolphins after not being able to get out on a pelagic last year. 

 

An obliging Sunfish provided excellent views close to the boat and on the run back in a Minke Whale gave two very brief (and somewhat frustrating!) views. 

 

So good to be back on the water and many thanks to Nick O'Sullivan, skipper of the Celtic Wildcat for a great day out. More photos here.