News from the Nordica!

Boyd Andrew 17 Jun (2 days ago)
to me

Hi Hannah, Just to add to Adrian’s reply we have seen quite a lot of Marine life recently, especially during that 2 week sunny spell we had. The majority of sightings were of Minke’s (excuse the spelling) and Dolphins. Although we did have a large pod of porpoises off the Kish which was very impressive and some seals in Dublin harbour. There’s been rumours of Killer whales off of the I.O.M and they have in the past been sighted by crew members around Holyhead so fingers crossed. Hopefully this helps and look forward to meeting you all again in the near future. Best regards, Andy

Strumble Diary...A pleasant summer evening of Porpoises !

Firstly Steve Berry saw both a Bottlenose dolphin  and then later a porpoise with a calf off Pen Anglas on Monday sorry I picked this up late Steve!
Yesterday Ian Coote and myself saw a porpoise with a calf last night off the Outer Breakwater and then went off to Strumble. The sea was flat and the tide pretty low but there were several porpoises showing nicely as well as at least two mothers with small calves. Although we see small calves throughout the year it looks like they are peaking at the moment. ON the ferry today weather looks really calm on the Irish side , coulfd be good!

Hypocritical Dolphin Conservation Organisation attack on dolphin tour boats



Dolphin trip boat at Newquay with Bottlenose dolphin  (CB)



This week Sea Watch Foundation are mounting a publicity campaign, taken up this morning by the BBC, blaming local tourism boats for a decline in the number of Bottlenose dolphins in Cardigan Bay. Even though they use and are sponsored by local tourist boats!


Ironically in Newquay, SWF use tourist boats to get photographs of the dolphins and at the same time are warning that they think tourist boats are scaring the dolphins away! In 2010 in their much publicised “Photo a Fin” campaign, they went on TV and Radio, encouraging members of the public to go out and get photographs of Dolphins and send them into them. This work should be done under licence by trained photographers, SWF were actually encouraging the public to break the law!

At least the tourist boats are bound by a code of conduct, private boaters usually do not have any idea of how to avoid disturbance.
Cliff Benson of Sea Trust thinks they don’t really understand the true facts of what is happening in Cardigan Bay.

Claims from Sea Watch Foundation that tourist boats, may be driving away Bottlenose Dolphins from Cardigan Bay ignores another much more significant factor. In the past few years during the winter months, there has been a massive increase in disturbance in Cardigan Bay from scallop fishing boats constantly ploughing up the seabed of Cardigan Bay. This goes on all winter from October until the end of April. It seems far more likely that disturbance caused on an industrial scale by the arrival of up to seventy scallop fishing boats every winter might drive the dolphins out of Cardigan Bay. These boats work night and day even in quite rough weather. Apart from the physical disturbance caused by towing heavy steel dredges over the seabed there is a cacophony of electronic sound with each boat bombarding the underwater environment with depth sounders and sonar. Surely this must effect the dolphins far more than a handful of tourist boats operating in the summer months.

Milton Keynes based Sea Watch Foundation , arrive in New Quay, Cardigan Bay during the summer months along with the tourists, just as the scallop dredgers are moving out of the area. They really do not have the year round view local groups such as Sea Trust, Friends of Cardigan Bay and Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Group have.  Every year since 2007, between November and the end of April, Cardigan Bay is invaded by scallop fishing boats from the south of England and Scotland where many have been displaced by the English and Scottish authorities concerns for the ecological damage they have done there in the past. Incredibly they are still allowed to plough up the seabed here in Wales!

Report from Stevo!

Saturday 15th June




Ian Hotchin with his wife Sylvia were sitting on the cliff top above, Crin Coed Point, Fishguard Bay this afternoon beneath them in the sheltered waters a multitude of Harbour Porpoises, including at least 1 mother and calf. Actual numbers could be seen difficult to estimate, Ian described it has loads of porpoise and gannets in a huge feeding frenzy well spread out over the bay!
Cheers

Stevo

More Strumble Diary and Links for videos and pictures

It just goes to show how a bit of good weather makes cetacean spotting so much easier, last weeks calm spell allowed us to see things we might otherwise have missed at Strumble and on the Ferry in less calm  conditions. (see links below)

Even so, yesterday we were enthralled with the sight of a least fifty porpoises surfing in the big swells and tide race at Strumble. If there is anywhere as easily accessible  in the UK that is as good for spotting different species of cetaceans from the shore, particularly Porpoise, I would love to know where! We are desperately trying to get Strumble protected but as yet it is not even a part of the Pembrokeshire SAC Nor are our Porpoises given any special protection.

This is why we are dedicating 2013  as the "Sea Trust Year of The Porpoise", lets hope the Welsh Government takes its responsibilities seriously becaiuse as our ongoing Strumble Diary proves , it is a very special place!

Risso's at Strumble last Friday (31/5): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pTE3gr4ztU

Common dolphins at Strumble last week (6/6): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpljNytJXVg&feature=youtu.be

Photos from our few days on the ferry this week: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.606032956097659.1073741824.532791560088466&type=1

Compilation video of footage from the ferry trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pviwVSIH2g

Strumble diary Wednesday 12/06/13: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiCRoJGz1F4&feature=youtu.be

From Karen Burns in Aberystwith

karenlburns
18:12 (13 hours ago)
to me


There has been quite a bit of dolphin activity in Aberystwyth harbour this week including regular visits from a mother and calf. The attached picture taken this morning shows the foetal fold markings on the calf...Karen

 

From H...

Just a couple of sightings for you off Mwnt. Tuesday evening (4/6/13) 2 x Bottlenose dolphins feeding off some very large fish. Wednesday morning (5/6/13) mother and calf bottlenose and Wendesday evening 2 adults and calf at same location.

Common dolphins at Strumble

Old mate and Sea Trust supporter Steve Berry was walking his dog and bird watching above Pen Anglas, Fishguard Bay when his keen eyes spotted a pod of Common Dolphins feeding just offshore.

He texted me to let me know so I phoned him back and he said they were moving off towards Strumble.  Fifteen minutes later I was there setting up the video bins. I scanned around seeing a few porpoises feeding in the tide rip with plenty of gannets overhead. I began to think I might have been too late but just as I was beginning to think about heading home to do some work I had another scan.

Something/s were coming around the coast at speed, surging past and whipping up streaks of foam. It was Steve’s commons moving at speed, true greyhounds of the sea. Steve estimated around 12, it was possibly a few more but always difficult to be accurate. They continued to move out offshore here one minute gone the next! Nice one Steve!

The stats

3 AND A HALF DAYS

195 SIGHTINGS, INCLUDING 6 CASUAL

189 SIGHTINGS ON SURVEY EFFORT

OVER 25 HOURS OF SURVEY

SIGHTINGS

162 HARBOUR PORPOISE

9 COMMON DOLPHIN

14 RISSO’S DOLPHIN

3 MINKE WHALE

7 UNIDENTIFIED

INDIVIDUALS

322 PORPOISES

130+ COMMON DOLPHINS

57 RISSO’S DOLPHINS

3 MINKE WHALES

49 UNIDENTIFIED

A TOTAL OF APPROXIMATELY 561 INDIVIDUAL ANIMALS!

AVERAGES

NO OF SIGHTINGS FOR EACH CROSSING:

MORNING - 21.5

AFTERNOON - 28

EVENING - 9.5

TOTAL AVERAGE OF 7.5 SIGHTINGS/HOUR OVER THE WHOLE SURVEY, AND 14 SIGHTINGS/HOUR ON OUR BUSIEST CROSSING!

The final leg of our cetacean spectacular!

After the perfect calm of Monday evening, we awoke to a bit of a Northerly breeze combined with some tide which made the inshore area around Rosslare and beyond past the Tusker Rock a bit choppy. A cloudless sky meant a bright sun reflecting of the choppy waves which made spotting difficult. Even so we picked up the odd Porpoise and then some Risso’s not far past the Tusker.

Half a dozen fishing boats were crowding the deep channel just south of the Tusker, possibly displacing the Risso’s.  Over the years, it has proved to be a prolific area for them which is known to us as the “Risso’s Triangle” and perhaps should be protected from this kind of pressure.

 A little later some very distant dolphins were probably Commons but too far to be sure as was also the case with two other Risso’s sightings.

Maria and Jon Scones along with Rob Davies and Tim Wroblewski joined us for the return leg to Rosslare but unfortunately for Rob and Tim the wind had risen and with a bright sun we were glared out and more or less wasting our time apart for some nice sea bird watching. But even then, just as we were approaching the Tusker a Couple of Risso’s shot close by the bows and Tim got some nice shots of them. Sadly some technical problems meant the ship was delayed and we did not get a third look at the Tusker.

Rob and Tim went off on Tuesday evening leaving John and Maria to accompany Hannah and the Walrus on our last return voyage back to Fishguard. The wind had died down overnight and things were looking a whole lot more promising.  Maria and Jon kicked off with some porpoises with Hannah finding a few more.

 The walrus hit the jackpot though with a huge white Risso’s that was just logging on the surface seemingly intent on watching the ship go by.  I managed to film him and Hannah managed to get a couple of pics. He may have been an old friend as we used to occasionally see a big old white Risso’s at Strumble. We decided to call him Moby Dick in honour of the great white whale in book of the same name by Herman Melville which was partly filmed in Fishguard in 1954.

Although not quite as good as the best day on Monday we were still getting odd porpoises and a distant feeding pod of Commons and as if to put some icing on the cake a Minke surfaced briefly twice to give us four species for the day!  A couple more Porp’s as we headed past Strumble and we completed the last leg of a marathon, four day, 14 crossings of the Irish Sea!

None of this would have been possible without the help and cooperation of Stena Line Fishguard and Rosslare, whose shore side staff and management along with the ships masters and crew give Sea Trust fantastic support.