Firstly, many many thanks to skipper Andy and crew Rob & Ken for another wonderful day out on the water, oh! and for the much appreciated cup of tea to make the hobnobs go down much easier as well.
We left the moorings and ventured down the haven with blue skies and a bucket full of hopes of a great day ahead.
Intern Jay-Lo joined Cliff on the flying bridge for the first hour recording Data.
We cleared the heads at St Annes and headed out to the SW. Things were quiet at first and then we came accross a small group of commons. As we watched them Andy spotted a Minke whale and this was to be the first of four, possibly five, sighted over the next hour or so.
The dolphin sightings were poor at this distance out compared to previous trips as we were now in what I term the dolphin belt, a band of sea off the coast some 10-15 miles or so where the dolphin's are normally encountered.
We motored on a few more miles and could see splashes in the distance. A look through the binos told us it was tuna, sightings of which are few and far between although they do seem to be moving further north which may be due to the rising sea temperature caused by global warming. Capturing them on camera is quite a challenge due to the speed they move at and you never know where they are going to surface so I was very pleased to get these shots.
We moved on heading further and further out hoping for sightings of Fin whales as there had been sightings in the area a few days before. Much further out than expected we started running into small groups of common dolphin a lot of which had small calves. Some groups were larger than others and combined all added to a total count of 450-500 for the day.
All in all a very enjoyable day in great company and everyone went home tired but smiling.
Lastly, some not so dolphin shots from our day on board the Cartlet Lady
A picture of concentration. Carrie & Cliff on the lookout.
Ben on the sundeck.
From the left, Ben, Jay-lo and Carrie getting their first encounter close up with bow riding dolphins. You should have seen the smiles when the turned around. Priceless!!!
Until the next trip then. Hope you enjoy this entry. Signing off for now. Ken B
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