Busy week this week and lucky us dolphins seen out on boats most days. Whilst out doing some C-Pod retrieval ..a device which carries out cetacean acoustic monitoring…and a bird survey…who should pop up on "Atlantic Diver's "starboard side but a beautiful Common Dolphin. They were 7 of them casually hunting right next to the boat…What a huge distraction from our bird survey..wow..they porpoised out of the sea a couple of times , crashing and belly flopping back down .totally awesome.
Atlantic Diver was out on a Dive trip with Somerset divers on Sunday and came across this amazing Scene of Common Dolphins Tail Walking during what appeared to be a hunting strategy. The story has been picked up by localpress as it is such an unusual thing to see.
It was a spectacular day and both "Atlkantic Diver" and "Atantic Explorer" were out the the Flaming June sunshine. The sea was becalmed so we saw all manner of birds including a Puffin, a pod of 20 Common Dolphins, A Harbour Porpoise and 8 Grey Seals
Off shore there were lots of harmless and beautiful Moon Jellyfish which means there is plenty of plankton about …great for potential Basking Shark sightings!! Here of some of the Dolphin and seal pics I'd like to share with you….
Experts are concerned about the number of by -caught Dolphins being washed up onto our beaches dead after becoming caught in fishing nets. Sadly often Cetacean, Seals and Turtles become entangled in fishing gear and die from Asphyxiation. The Cornwall Wildlife Trust are trialing Pingers which are devices that attach to the gear and emit sounds audible to the cetacean, in the hope that it will deter them from the net. Members of the public can report sightings of dead Dolphins, seals etc to their hotline number:0845 201 2626 .For more info please click the link below:
To see the news article please click below link:
http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/
To learn more about the pingers, click here: http://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/conservation/livingseas/dolphin_pinger_trial
We can help by trying to purchase our fish supplies from dolphin friendly sources. It was really sad when Chris and I recorded the details of this little baby…It still had its soft baby dorsal fin , which told us it was a neonate.
I Loved this pic so much I've made it available for desk use (non commercial use please)
Acrobatic Short Beaked Common Dolphins swam around the divers today as they decompressed and slowly resurfaced. The beautiful and inquisitive cetacean swam from one group of divers to another as they amused themselves “human watching!” in the glorious July sunshine. The guys were just completing a dive on the HMS Rewa a World War One hospital ship wreck featured on the documentary made with Atlantic Diver…. ” Deep Wreck Mysteries”.This is the time of year the dolphins are giving birth or breeding so we have been having unbelievably fantastic sightings of them almost daily….fin tastic. Our last 2 blue shark cage diving saw a couple of pods feeding within a mile of our chum slick!! Our sea safari trips are seeing the kittiwake chicks hatch out, seals hauled out , diving gannets and the porpoising dolphins. We were also lucky enough yesterday to also see 2 harbour porpoise…wow what a day to remember…dolphin heaven
Dolphins galore at the moment….we have had a few spectacular dolphin viewing days. Three large Bottlenose Dolphins have been playing with the boat for the past few days, using their huge tail flukes to nudge the boat when we are stopped , conducting our marine wildlife talks during our sea safaris. Then jumping and twisting out of the water backwards in an amazing acrobatic display. Even our lucky divers this week have been treated to Common Dolphins circling the boat again whilst we were stopped waiting for divers to resurface. The Common Dolphin is much smaller than the Bottlenose Dolphin and has a beautiful hourglass pattern as seen in one of the pics here. They are very playful and love to compete with each other when riding the bow wave of Atlantic Diver
Wow…what a stunning day yesterday…most of the Newquay Harbour boats were out on trips which made for a frenzy of activity across Newquay Bay! A visiting German couple were pleasantly suprised at the subtropical conditions we were experiencing..( weren’t we all) as they boarded ready to enjoy the spoils of the ocean during one of our Newquay Sea Safaris. Seals ,Sunfish, Gannets, Cormorants, Shags ,Manx Shearwaters, Oyster Catchers, Harbour Porpoise and amazily..Common Dolphins hunting for Sprats surrounded the boat whilst a few porpoised infront of us…spectacular viewing. We were able to get some amazing pics for photo ID. Dusk signalled time to return to Harbour..reluctant but HAPPY
Couldn't resist blogging this utterly beautiful young female grey seal named "Cover Girl" spotted during Seal Survey and Ghost Gear Survey on North Cornwall Coast . She was quite curious and watched us watching her from aboard "Atlantic Diver", to the delight of all passengers onboard.
The Guillemots were also beginning to come back to their ledges ready for breeding season.
Tonights the big night. Newquay Sea Safaris and Fishing are Finalists for the Cornwall Tourism Awards sooo..tonight we discover WHO have won the Bronze, Silver or Gold award for the Wildlife and marine Attraction of the Year 2014-2015.
The Headland Hotel are hosting a Black Tie Dinner and Dance Award Ceremony, Chris Lowe ( gorgeous hubbie and skipper) Mike Taylor ( Marine Wildlife Guide) and myself are attending andddd ….we are sooooo excited. Will post on Twitter as soon as we know ourselves.
A huge thanks go to all of our Crew and Wildlife Team/Buddies with whom we have worked for the last 29 years and have helped us to shape Newquay Sea Safaris and Fishing so that we can share our knowledge of the amazing Marine Wildlife here off Newquay and North Cornwall Coast with members of the public as our guests on board our boats , on our tours and on our road shows, so that they can appreciate the diversity of the ocean and help enjoy it whilst working towards its protection for future generations….Phew…glad I said that before the fizzy champagne…I'll leave you all with an image of the Iconic Bottlenose Dolphins in Newquay Bay This year.
This Season's rescued seals have been released during a tiny window of calm waters. The excited pups telescoped thier necks high in the Cornish Seal Sanctuary tailer to spot the beautiful becalmed sea in a scenic Cornish Cove. Having regained their health and accumulated a whopping 40 kg in weight..thanks to Sanctuary Animal Care Team….MOST of the seals hauled themselves down into the sea, however one individual …"Crator" seemed a little apprehensive and climbed back into the trailer. Some seal pups take longer than others to re aclimatise .
Miranda, Mars, Moon, Orion, Indus and Crator were the seals (named after space theme) who were all successfully released today , with more to follow tomorrow. Of these Chris and I were fortunate enough as British Divers Marine Life Rescue Marine Mammal Medics , to have rescued Indus and Orion ,with the help of a huge team of volunteers who have cared for these seals and the amazing and seemingly inexhaustive efforts of the vets and Cornish Seal sanctuary Animal Care Team….Good Luck little seals…if you spot a tagged seal please report location, date, time and pic if possble to sue sayer at cornwall seal group.
