Strumble Diary 04/03/2026

 Spring seems to be here at last. A beautiful sunny day at Strumble with birds singing in the coastal margins. Bumble bees active and even a Red Admiral and Tortoiseshell butterfly doing fly by's. Lots more hedgerow activity on the road down as well. The tide race was just starting to run when I arrived three hours into the dropping tide. The wind was SE 3-4, so off the land giving calm conditions out in front of me. The first sighting was of a pair of porps traveling together and they were the same pair I had seen previously on the 22nd of February as posted in my previous blog entry. A couple ot others during the session, one with distinct coloured spots on it's flank. A small group of around six Commons way off to the far side of Pen Caer point seemed to be headed for Fishguard Bay were the only Commons sighted during the session. I spotted several porpoise down beyond the lighthouse later in the session but none ventured up the very strong tide race in front of the lookout. Five Red Throated Divers and a three Grey seals filled the rest of the session and I came away at 12.45pm not having seen any action for the previous 45 mins or so.

 

From Andrew Crowder Strumble Diary: 28/2/26.

 Hi Cliff,

We arrived at 2.30 pm as the tide race began to gather west of the lighthouse. We quickly picked up  a group of active Common Dolphins and estimated 12 individuals with a probable mother and calf combination in amongst them. They eventually disappeared from view by which time the race was running just to the left of the lookout and we started spotting porpoise - probably 4-5 animals in total. After about 10 minutes of watching the porpoise we saw a large gathering of feeding Gannets, a little further out beyond this group and immediately picked out another small group of Common Dolphin. All could be viewed within one binocular field - doesn’t happen everyday!
Regards
Andrew

Strumble Diary 11.30am 12pm 23/03 2016

 So with a rainy day forcasted, the Monday Photo ID volunteers were stood down and true to the forcast, it rained which is no good for photos! None the less, Fran and self decided to give Strumble a try, just to see what was there.On arrival the falling tide race was choppy and pushing closer to the shore than usual, calmer beyond.. 

Despite the murky weather, slashing rain and choppy tide race, within minutes of our arrival we spotted groups of dolphins. Some were close in, others further out. for the next half hour there were groups moving about in front of us.

There could be fifty or sixty maybe a hundred+ Common Dolphins, impossible to acurately count in groups of six or seven or double+ figures, as time went by, i began to think it was easily 100+ as they seem to turn up all over the place wherever you looked.

One thing for certain was, we spotted several mothers with calves. Another interesting phenomena was that we also spotted a few porpoises with Common Dolphins feeding close by, but without any negative interactions This is interesting as their bigger cousins the Bottlenose Dolphins are known to attack both Common Dolphins and Porpoises..

Strumble Diary 22/02/2026

 So yesterday, (Sunday), turned out to be one of those days that make you feel good after all the dreary days we've had of late. Mid morning the skys opened up and gave a chance for that great golden orb in the sky to show it's face and even project a bit of heat on to our little part of the world. So with good light and a strong Westerly against the tide I just knew it could be a good watch if the cetaceans were there.

I arrived at Strumble well before the tide race formed and even then there were several Commons feeding out in front of the lookout. I watched them for a while and as the tide race formed and watched the swell building also. Time went on and more and more Commons came in from the NW in small groups moving up against the tide like shimmering torpedos in the increasing swells. Darting here and there chasing fish no doubt, they were quite hard to follow and capture on camera. This was turning into one of those "Feeling good to be alive days". Just me, Leo my dog, lots of sunshine and a view full of cetaceans. My soul was at peace, well for a couple of hours anyway. 

When the tidal flow reached full strength they started breaching out of the swells and for that fourty minutes or so before I left I was in my happy place. Eye to the camera, shutter finger busy and a broad smile to finish off a great session. I had been joined by volunteer Harry Grubb for the latter part and he spotted two porpoise close in to our left. I managed to get some shots off before they  headed out into the main tade race and I realised one was an animal I'd captured back on the 18th November 25. Note the tip of the fin. It was in company with another smaller porp which could have been it's calf so it could indicate that it's a female.

On another note a report came in later yesterday from Dawn Nelms (ID Volunteer) who was at Pen Anglas where she and her husband watched several Porpoise feeding and milling around as well as good numbers of Commons. Thank you Dawn.

All images © Ken Barnett/Sea Trust Wales.  

Enjoy!! 

 

Strumble Diary 16/02/2026

 First trip out for a while arriving at 09.30 and not the best of days weather wise. A strong nearly gale force WSW wind was pushing hard against the dropping tide raising some very lumpy swells in the tide race. So lumpy in fact the commons were more like downhill skiiers than surfers. So yes, there were a large number of commons feeding off the lookout and indeed all over the tide race from off the point to a good half mile NW out in the tide race. 

The Monday survey team arrived at 11.am by which time I must have seen well over 160+ Common Dolphins. We watched a couple of large groups moving through the tide race West to East occasionally slowing to catch fish before resuming their course. Around 12pm they turned and started running back West with the tide and eventually out of sight. Things were quiet then for a while before a single Porpoise was sighted followed a few minutes later by a couple more. Having been there for three very cold hours I decided to call it a day and leave the team to continue their watch.

 

Ian Hotchin sails again, Dolphins in the Bay!

We had a call from master mariner Ian Hotchin, out on his yacht in Fishguard Bay this afternoon.Ian told us there were around 25 Common Dolphins around his vessel.seemingly feeding.

 I went out on the green breakwater a bit later. I could see Ian a mile or so in his junk rigged yacht, out to the north. Also a lot of gannets just off Pen Anglas to the west, The water was quite choppy outside the shelter of the bay and I was unable to make out any Dolphins, but presumed they were beneath the Gannets, so went back to the Ocean Lab.

A little while later, a chap came up to the desk and told me he had seen some dolphins in the harbour from the central breakwater! maybe the pod had split and i missed the ones in the harbour!