Thank you Cliff for the taster. So it was then that we set off in the bright afternoon sun for our first trip of the season. Skipper Andy and his crew Brian had as usual got the old lady shipshape and firing on all cylinders ready for what we hope for is a good season ahead. If the first trip is anything to go by it will hopefully be a bumper one. With myself, Cliff, Odette and Elora our two interns, Stevo and Joel, plus a full compliment of guests including two wildlife enthusiasts from Germany we set off down the haven full of anticipation.
Not long after clearing the heads the first sighting was of a single porpoise. This was quickly followed by several other sightings as we made the first two or three miles out. Another fifteen minutes or so and another couple of miles out and a small group of Common Dolphin passed by not even breaking stride so to speak and paid us no attention at all. As we ploughed on out we came across several small pods of commons with quite a bit of activity around the boat.
As I stood on the bow in true Titanic style I spotted the first of the Minke Whales we were to see on our trip. Ten minutes later and I spotted a second. We slowed for a while to get a second look but as it is with the whales sometimes, they just won't play ball. Ah well! We needn't have worried though because a few miles further out and the shout from the flying bridge was Minke! Three!!! Oh boy it doesn't get much better. So now we were up to five. We circled for a while and were getting occasional sightings as they moved around. We sighted some more some time later but because we had spent some time circling we couldn't be sure if these were different ones or from the same group. However some few miles further along we had the most amazing encounter. A small Minke some ten-twelve foot long came under the boat and circled us a couple of times. Odette and Elora now at the bow were in raptures as were most on board I think. Sadly no image from me of this memorable encounter as I was trying to video it and not being at all used to this I managed somehow to not press the correct record button (Gutted) but I believe Cliff caught it and it's the ninth and tenth images in his previous entry. So this makes the sixth confirmed Minke and so with the other possibles it could have been eight or ten. However many it was it was an extraordinary trip and one I'm sure all on board will remember for a great while.
I mentioned I was taking video as well on the trip and as this is all quite new to me I am going to be spending quite some time getting it all together and making some sense of it. When I do and if I can get it to a reasonable viewing standard I will put it on my Youtube channel and post a link on the blog. In the meantime please enjoy the images below and I hope they don't make you too jealous but may inspire you to joining us one day.
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| Odette and Alaura enjoying time on the bow. |
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| Some of the porpoise seen on the way out. |
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| A selection of the Common Dolphin encountered. |
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| Our Minke Whales. | |
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| A selection of the birds seen on this trip. |
