Today, was the day of the Wildlife Cruise, when I booked it last September, I was dreaming of sunny skies and calm seas dripping with Shearwaters, Petrels and Skuas. It didn't quite work out like that, we awoke to driving rain, so heavy that the drive to Falmouth resulted in a couple of diversions to avoid flooded roads that I didn't dare drive through!! The strong wind didn't inspire confidence and we were half expecting a cancellation! We arrived at the marina on time and the rest of the passengers were assembled, waterproofs were donned. The forecast was improving and we were escorted to the boat, the Captain explained that it was quite rough out to sea, but was going to give it go! it was a bit worrying when we were informed that every other boat had cancelled!!!!😱😱😱 The Captain's plan was to go out down the coast towards the Lizard peninsula as far as we could, then head out to Sea returning with the wind behind us!
To say it was rough was an understatement, I now understand what the inside of the washing machine feels like!! Luckily Margie and I have pretty good sea legs as it seemed did the rest of the passengers, though when they put the chum out I went a bit green about the gills but was able to hold things together! It was extremely difficult to get pictures, the way out was largely disappointing birdwise a Kingfisher flew across the estuary and there were Shags and Cormorants in the harbour. A few Fulmars and Gannets went past and somebody on the other side of the boat had a Storm Petrel but I couldn't get on it!😢 The Chum produced very little, which I think surprised the Captain. We did have a couple of Minkie Whales which I couldn't see in the rough waves but I did see "the blow"!! The way back was better and slightly calmer, we had two Cory Shearwaters, three Great Shearwaters, a Sooty Shearwater, several Manx Shearwaters and a Little Gull. We also had some great Dolphin encounters, with them swimming alongside and right under the boat, fantastic!!! Overall it was a very enjoyable experience, the Captain's commentary was very informative, they couldn't help the weather and the low number of birds and I don't think considering the conditions it could have been any better, to be honest we were just grateful to survive😊😀😂😂😂😱😲!
I would request that everyone watch the short video below before judging our photos😁 Although if anything it doesn't show how rough it was some of the waves were mashousive!
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| Little Dennis, we were there yesterday! |
Calm enough in the harbour for Margie to get some pics of the shore line
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| Can I ever get away from em!! |
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| All the best days start with a Shag |
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| Shag |
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| A very friendly Fulmar |
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| Gannets |
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| Manx Shearwaters |
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| Bird of day for me, Sooty Shearwater |
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| Gannet |
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| Fulmar |
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| Gannet |
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| Big Seas |
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| Guillemot |
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| Great Shearwater, came in on the wrong side of the boat for me! |
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| Great Shearwater |
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| Dolphin, the only pic I got, though we saw plenty |
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| Little Gull |
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| Manxie |
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| Med Gull |
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| Great Black-backed Gull |
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| Shag |
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| Kingfisher |
Safely back in port! To be honest despite the bumpy Seas we felt totally safe the whole time!! Can highly recommend AK Wildlife Cruises!!
See their website at the link!! ( no incentives needed to promote them was genuinely a great experience)
So not the birdfest I was hoping for! No Petrels, was hoping for a Wilson's as it would have been a lifer, no Sabines, Skuas or Phalaropes either all of which have been reported in previous and following days in good numbers, but you can't win them all. Nice to see the big Shearwaters and the Dolphins were epic, sadly the pics are rubbish but can't be helped, just means we will have to try again in the future!!
For those that would like to see some better pics of the Shearwaters, the report from our spectacular trip on the Scillonian III a couple of years ago is at the link!!
