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Atlantic Diver was called by fellow Marine Mammal Medics at BDMLR (British Divers Marine Life Resue) to go to the aid of a whale ,spotted by a St Ives Fisherman ,which was believed to be net entangled. Chris Lowe , Annabelle Lowe and Mark ( air ambulance crew and BDMLRMMM) dashed to Atlantic Diver at Newquay harbour ,cast off and sped at superfast speeds  that I have never seen her do before down to attempt rescue of the stricken whale. We carefully passed harbour porpoise and a sunfish on route passing through plankton slicks before slowing to begin the search of a needle in a haystack , for the encumbussed whale. Josh the BDMLR rescue rib met us after their equally fast launch from Hayle and both boats began the almighty task ahead.

Conditions were great for spotting and before long we saw what appeared to be a Minke Whale ,with small dorsal fin , feeding in the middle of a really soupie Plankton slick. Josh stood by to observe and spotted long whitish petoral fins….it was a Juvenile Humpback Whale!!!…net entangled around its dorsal fin and body beneath. Tactics were discussed and then brave Marine Mammal Medics: Faye, Dan ,Tim , Richard one other and with Phil at the helm began the process of attempting to cut through the thick rope. (” This is a job for trained medics only, as they say DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME”>>”Call the professionals BDMLR  on 01825 765 546 if you spot this or any other marine creature in distress) After several exhilarating and exhaustive attempts it was decidied to leave the whale as the sun was begining to set , whale was beginning to tire and both rescue boats had a fair way to return through pot laid sea before safe return to harbour. The whale continued to feed  as we saddly left it dragging along the netting. This experience has highlighted to all the need to clean up our seas, collecting rubbish at sea as do several of the Cornish fishing fleet , (Newquay Harbour Included..thanks guys) through “Fishing for Litter” http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/cornwall/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8604000/8604632.stm

Organising or taking part in Beach cleans and the most importantly …..throw your litter in a bin or take it home. Recycling is easy. A plea to all at or around the sea to report sighting of this whale to BDMLR as soon as possible after you spot it, with details of location, behaviour, direction of travel..many thanks. Many thanks too to all behind the scenes who worked so hard to try to free this beautiful whale.

During the intense process of trying to free the whale we watched the water surface after each time the whale swam down to see where it would pop up again, looking for ripples on the water, dark shadows or the ultimate tell tale sign of a whale.. the blow spraying out. During one such time a grey seal called “White Propellor” popped up looking for food…we all roared with laughter at the cheek of this little opportunistic feeder..as if it was saying..”Hey I’m the Star here” feed me! of course we didn’t !

The whale was spotted again on Wednesday and Atlantic Diver loaded with Marine Mammal Medics and Ben’s new punt again took to the high seas to attempt to come to the aid of the troubled whale. Immediately after leaving newquay harbour we were joined by a group of three Bottlenose Dolphins…wow wee they porpoised and spun infront of the boat’s bow but we were unable to stop and enjoy as we continued on our mission past breath takingly beautiful scenery, that was more befitting to a Newquay Sea Safari than a search and rescue. Gannets dived and Cormorants did their best to distract but sadly we were unable to find the stricken Whale as the weather moved in and waves dashed our deck whilst the mist pushed down the visibily and we retreated to the safety of Newquay Harbour, so we could search another day. Imagine the thoughts and suprise of the surfer who spotted the whale just 200m off shore and 100m from his surf board and kindly reported it in…not exactly an everyday catch a wave experience.  thanks to all again who helped with this attempted rescue.

More news of the whale can be seen on this link :http://www.bdmlr.org.uk/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=850&cntnt01pagelimit=15&cntnt01returnid=54

Below is an amazing link to a sucessful if unplanned whale rescue…Its a real tear jerker :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k40iizMoLOw

The three Grey Seals that reguarly visit  Newquay Harbour have for the past 2 weeks been joined by a new seal..as yet not identified by the Cornwall Seal Group…All four seals were enjoying an easy meal from the Newquay tripping boats ,with Trunk the pregnant female struggling now to reach high out of the sea to grab a fish.Justin Retallick and his young family returned with a good catch of Pollack and Mackerel from the 2 hour Mackerel fishing trip aboard” Atlantic Diver.” The children caught the fish but the mums who were enjoying a glass or two of Pimms back on land will be doing the cooking explained young fiherman Ben Retallick….bet the girls opted for a bar-b-que instead..and we all know who takes charge of those!! 

Lucky Anglers aboard "Atlantic Diver" on a Deep Sea Fishing Trip accidently caught a huge sunfish as it became entangled underwater around its dorsal fin by the anglers line . It was quickly disentangled and then released unharmed and swam away well. Our Skipper Chris Lowe said " it was huge! They are so weird looking!"

it measured about one and a half metres in length and weighed approximately 50lbs. It was so heavy they struggled to bring it onboard . 

Sunfish are not resident in the UK as they require temperatures of 10 degrees so usually live in tropical or temperate seas above 10 degrees. They come  across from the Mediterranean and feed on the jellyfish that we have been seeing here for the past few weeks as the plankton develops.Feeding  on squid, crustacean and small fish they can be swimming anywhere in the water column , so our divers and snorkeling passengers usually see them on reefs or wrecks but our Sea Safari passengers usually see them when they come up to the surface of the sea as they lie on their side , dorsal fin flapping and bask in the sun. Seabirds often peck at the parasites on them which sunfish tolerate as a mutual symbiotic behavior.

We have been seeing them everyday for the past week as well as Dolphins most days. This was a really rare and fantastic moment to share with our passengers….Don't you just love living and working in Cornwall.

Records of this have been sent to Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Dough Herdson a fish specialist here in Cornwall.

Trips for Fishing and Sea Safaris to spot for sunfish are going daily from Newquay Harbour 

to book please call dave on

07582 466 122

Fish Identifying Course took place in Newquay today and WOW!! what an amazing find…4 Giant Gobies. These fish were carefully ID ed and returned unharmed to their rockpool at an undisclosed site in Newquay. Course members helped pull a fish gathering Seine Net at the mouth of Newquay harbour and found species such as Brill, Plaice, Weaver Fish, Smelt, Shrimps and sand eel.

Came across this amazing pod of Common Dolphins whilst on route to a dive this week….how lucky are we!! They were hunting around us for about 2 hours and played with "Atlantic Diver " on and off whilst we waited for the slack water…what beautiful creatures, we are so lucky to live in Newquay and experience the marine wildlife here…the dolphins were looking up at the divers as they looked down over the bow of the boat and turning on their sides eyeballing right back again…awesome ….just awesome…!!!!

https://vimeo.com/69387992   Jay one of our divers videoed as they swam or should I say flew across our Bow Wave. He edited all of our collective footage and produced this amazing footage for us to share with you guys..thanks Jay..we love it

We are Master WiSe ( Wildlife Safe) boat operator which means we watch wildlife without causing disturbance, so it was great to watch them hunt from a distance and then they interacted with us when they wanted to….and they were curious…this is the best way to watch wildlife so you don't interfer with their feeding..its so rewarding to watch their hunting techniques.

 Amy then saw the Dolphin turn on its side and look right back up at her….this is always a tearful moment when you get direct eye contact with a Dolphin

 Chris giving his safety talk….trying to look cool for the pic

 Beautiful Gannets also passed by and a few blue jellyfish further off shore.

 and as always lovely Trunk back home in newquay Harbour….Trunk came over to investigate the camera

Farmer

Stags out on 2 Hour Mackerel Newquay Fishing Trip with Atlantic Diver ..Boat looks great in the Harbour with plenty of room for stags…Two of the semi resident grey seals Dr Who and Trunk visit the boat

Dr Who is so Gorgeous…then stags out to see again

For those of you who remember Leyla …our gorgeous and brainy Marine Student Wildlife Guide well she has been busy this winter compiling her "Atlantic Diving" and " Newquay Sea Safaris and Fishing" work experince to display at The Newquay Marine College  Atlantic Centre. We had a great day up there learning what the students had done over the summer, but of course we think Leyla's was best. Well done Leyla…top student!!

Dave Jarvis our British Diver Marine life Rescue Co- ordinater sent out an urgent message to us today. Hundreds of Guillemots our beautiful local diving sea birds are washing into the South coast of cornwall covered in a sticky waxy secretion making it impossible for them to fly. Help is desperately needed to help rescue. Advise if you find an affected bird is to put on gloves place in a ventilated cardboard box and call dave Jarvis on 07774711949 to await instructions for removal to West Hatch RSPCA rescue centre.

More info on:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-21275648

and on the BDMLR website:  http://www.bdmlr.org.uk/index.php?mact=News%2Ccntnt01%2Cdetail%2C0&cntnt01articleid=918&cntnt01origid=54&cntnt01returnid=54

Delighted John caught this 20lbs Ling aboard our new Catamaran "Atlantic Explorer" this fish was sustainably caught with a rod and line using squid as bait . Skipper chris Lowe said " it put up a good fight but John was keen to have it home for his supper". The fishermen were targeting pollack when a Tope also took the line. Gary released the 1.6m Tope after carefully removing the hook and handled as per advice from the Shark Trust. Details of the catch were sent to the Shark Trust.