More on New Years Porpoise picnic...

We had to postpone our New Year’s Day 2023, Porpoise Watch, (marking Sea Trust's twenty-year anniversary), until the second of January because of the weather (Strong winds and thunderstorms at Strumble!), but happily Mondays weather was a vast improvement.

None the less fifty odd people of all ages, mostly locals attended and were lucky enough to see common dolphins, porpoises and seals, throughout the hour and a half event! I think most attendees saw some dolphins and also saw our Monday photo ID team volunteers in action, recording them!

A couple of things strike me in retrospect:

Firstly, how many places could you expect to plan a public event to see cetaceans in an hour and a half in the winter, from the shore, and where else would you actually see them?

Over the years we have mostly been successful, with not only Porpoises but on different New Year’s Day watches, we have seen Porpoises, Common Dolphins, Risso's Dolphins, Otter and of course Grey Seals! Yesterday we also had a magnificent Peregrine Falcon fly by, also a Great Northern Diver, not to mention a dozen or so Gannets diving and feeding with the Dolphins!

And yet despite this, Strumble and its high energy tidal system that attracts such a unique abundance of marine wildlife still has no real protection.

Secondly, i doubt if any political party could attract over 50 local people to an outdoor event on a cold winter’s day, with no more advertising other than a few Face Book posts!

We certainly have great support within our community, (and beyond) for which Sea Trust Wales is immensely grateful.

Thanks to all our hundreds of volunteers past and present, interns from all over Europe, thousands of supporters, and all who have sailed occasionally stormy waters with us since 2003, when Sea Trust first took up the challenge of recruiting and encouraging local people to care for and protect our marine environment and its wildlife!

I wonder what the next twenty years will bring? I may not be there to see it all but I am confident others will step into our shoes to take on the challenges and Sea Trust will continue to build on its successes with your support. Pob hwyl, blwddyn newydd da!

(Thanks to Stevo Lucas for lending me his camera to take pics of the crowd and also to Ken Barnett for the Dolphin pic's)