Strumble diary 16/8/26: Hail, The Caeser's join the leaping sunfish club!

Not everybody is lucky enough to see a sunfish at Strumble, but to see a leaping sunfish (Mola mola) is to join a very exclusive club. Luckily for Di' and Gerry?/Jerry? their luck was in when I located a sunfish at Strumble, and as we were watching it, it started flipping out of the water! It was a first for Fran as well! Many years ago a mate known as "Sid" (Paul Parsons) told me he had just seen a sunfish leaping out of the water, and to my eternal shame, I explained learnedly, that this of course, was impossible as Sunfish have no real tail. Moments later, I was watching one and blam!!! It flipped out of the water several times, like a dimented Tiddlywink! Sid was kind enough to forgive me for my dismissing his sighting, and such is the calibre of the man, fails to remind me of my doltish behaviour whenever we meet up! Interestingly, some years ago a sunfish jumped into a local family's boat which i reported to the local newspaper and was quoted on this odd phenomenon. Somehow, Wikipedia caught on to the article and quoted me saying that a sunfish had lept int a boat. Someone read this, and told me i was on Wickpedias "Ocean Sunfish" page and my head swelled only slightly... Fame at last! Imagine my chagrin some time later, when several experts ganged together and had me dumped off the page because, as i had told "Sid" such a thing was "impossible!" Imagine the chgrin of the "experts" when they were proved wrong, and I was restored!: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_sunfish#cite_note-BBC2005-58 Porpoises and Common Dolphins added to the Strumble magic, and the evening was topped off by an invite to Di and Gerry's? campervan for a G and T, nice people, nice conclusion to a really nice shared experience!

from John O' Sullivan 15/8/26

Single Porpoise full breach from Trewent Head this evening. Only seen once a long way out.

Strumble Diary 14/08/2026

 A very misty start to the day with a forecast for it to last till evening. Cliff and I decided to give Strumble a go as sometimes the mist does move in and out somewhat. When I arrived, thankfully the mist was in a moving out phase and visibility was improving all the time. Volunteer Andy Wise and interns Dan and Keira were already there but hadn't seen anything to that point due to the mist. Cliff arrived and we set to watching over the forming tide race for any cetaceans. A couple of distant Porpoise were the first to show, but just a bit too far for meaningful images. Over the next hour or so a mix of distant and closer sightings followed with the best being a group of six feeding together off to the NW. Things went very quiet as the tide dropped away but as we were talking to Wayne, a birder from Swindon Cliff spotted a Minke Whale which surfaced briefly beyond the tide race but wherever it rose again was out of our vision. 

One marked Porpoise of note and it's the same one I have seen over the past few days and already in the catalogue so will be noted as a returner. Highlighted below.

 A close swimming Grey seal just below the lookout.

 

Strumble Diary 12-13th August 2026

Things have been quiet so I've put two days into one blog entry. 

Both were very similar really with almost identical weather except for mist spoiling things today the 13th. A few more Porpoise today (5 until mist came in) than the single one I had yesterday. Nadia and the Wednesday survey team had a lovely view of a Sunfish after I left and I too had a good view of one today. The one Porpoise I had yesterday was a marked animal we've seen before, so that was a bonus. The Sunfish from today was floating on the surface trying to attract gulls to pick off parasites, without much success I might add, but then did a "Spy Hop" which I've not seen them do before. It poked it's head out of the water and was looking around. Good to see but looked strange. 

Images: My single Porpoise and Nadia's Sunfish from yesterday, then today's Porpoise and Sunfish. 

 

Strumble Diary 11/08/2026 Rissos! Well Nearly.

 On the road down to Strumble I met Cliff who had spent a short time there and seen nothing of note. It was very early in the dropping tide so I wasn't expecting much at that time either, especially with the SE wind blowing off the shore. After parking up (09.20am) I walked down to the lookout and as I rounded the corner of the building I saw a Risso's a short way out heading West. A mad dash to get the camera out and not even bothering to set up the tripod I tried to get some shots. They were moving quickly with the tide so I got what I could before they went out of sight which was only a few distant shots. Two of them were tail slapping in unison, something I've not seen before making huge splashes as their tails slapped the water with a loud crash. 

All was quiet then until about 10.45 when two Porpoise rose in front of me travelling with the tide. Again it was get a few quick shots before they too submerged and were not seen again. Only time to capture one of them, sadly. The Tuesday survey team of Andy, Ruby and John arrived and we watched over the tide race and beyond for the next two hours and sadly didn't see any further action. Lovely to see the Risso's back though having been absent since last October.

 

Cartlet Lady survey 08/08/2026 (Continued)

 For the full synopsis please see the previous post from Cliff. 

I too would like to give personal thanks to Valero for their donation of fuel allowing our trips to go ahead this season, also giving us the chance to educate our guests and expand our/their knowledge of what goes on off our coast. 

 It was a strange day in a way cetacean wise and not at all what we are used to seeing. Instead of the pods of twenty and upward, we were hitting much smaller numbers with lots of single animals and the occasional mother and calf pairings. On top of that they were very quiet with only a few being lively around the boat, and some ignoring us completely. On the plus side though the sightings were frequent allowing our guests plenty of opportunity for some close encounters. As the weather eased to glass like conditions Andy allowed people onto the foredeck and with the rest up on the flying bridge it left me with plenty of room on the lower deck to try for that perfect shot I always hope to get. But they are like a mirage and you can see them in your minds eye but never seem to reach them. I try my best though. 

There were a few more active ones though, but only one real flyer which I was delighted to capture,  I was though happy enough at the end of the trip to have come away with some decent images under the challenging circumstances.

Our grateful thanks as always to skipper Andy and crew Rob for another excellent day on the water aboard the lovely Cartlet Lady and for our safe return to port. 

 

Some of the other sightings we had.