Things were very quiet at first and as is usual this time of
year porpoise numbers can be below average and indeed we spent the first two
hours or so being entertained by the Oystercatchers Gannets and Gulls the
latter of which were feeding on a bait ball that had formed in front of the
lookout. At least it gave a good opportunity to get shots of Gannets in missile
mode as they entered the water as the feed progressed.
Later on as the tide race was well underway we spotted two
porpoise coming in from the NW. Very brief sightings but at least they were
there. Over the next half hour or so several more animals were spotted but at a
distance. Apologies for the quality of images but with very little contrast
detail on the water, and the haze, conditions for the cameras were very
challenging.
Sometime later and almost simultaneously Holly and I spotted
something very large out on the inner boundary of the tide race. At first I
thought it was a Basking Shark but as it turned side on and surfaced it became
obvious it was a Minke Whale. Even an animal that size can be hard to spot and
it’s surprising how frustrating it can be when there’s two of you there and one
can see it and the other can’t. That’s the way it was with Holly shooting away
and me trying desperately to get the lens on it. Eventually I did after many
amusing jibes from Holly and we followed
it as it moved Eastward beyond mackerel point. With quite long periods between
sightings our eyes were trained on the general area of the last sighting. I
spotted it and started shooting as Holly exclaimed “Yes I’ve got it too". But as
I stopped shooting when it had gone down Holly was still shooting. Puzzled I
asked where she was looking and it turned out there was a second smaller Minke
some 3-400mtrs behind the other animal. Seemingly we had a mother and
calf/juvenile on our patch.
 | |||
| Shot by Holly of smaller juvenile |
To see one is unusual as most years we don’t see any but to
have two together was a rare treat and a real tonic as we get back into some
semblance of normality. Stay well folks
and keep popping in as we hope to be bringing you more regular postings over
the coming weeks.