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The "Atlantic Diver" was out in full swing today cutting a fine wash through the becalmed blue sea across Newquay Bay, "The Coast of Dreams". 

The Headland Hotel was looking Regal on the cliff top behind her. 

Today was our first day for 2015 Basking Shark Tagging with Professor Matt Witt and Professor Lucy Hawkes from University of Exeter at Tremough . A small team of us set out from Newquay Harbour aboard "Atlantic Diver" after recent reports of sightings of good sized basking sharks were shared to the Basking Shark Tagging hotline number 

07935 098 122

Wind and swell dropped and setting off at 6am conditions seemed perfect until…..the FOG arrived …and stayed. 

Despite the conditions , Matt spotted a small 4.5m basking shark, which by basker standards is relatively small. Unfortunately the shark swam just below the surface which made tagging impossible. The sighting was recorded and we continued to search. 

we are asking for the support of public to call in time and location of any sightings from sea or land as soon as possible , so we can pull the team together and deploy the tags .

More info about the project can be seen here

www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title_445590_en.html

Gorgeous Newquay Seals were chillaxing in The May Bank Holiday Sunshine on one of their favourite rocks .

A member of the public kindly called British Diver Marine Life Rescue as they believed them to be tired and trying to climb on rocks to rest.

What a great call out to have as Marine Mammal Medics, Chris myself and Ben a newly qualified medic climbed down the cliff to see the seals snoozing  and doing their favourite normal thing of hauling out onto a favourite rock to dry out, digest their food and rest in the heat of the day. Was this the fastest call out after quaifying, apparently not Ben was pipped to the post by a medic who had a call out on actual day of training! We are proud to be part of this great charity which aims to come to the aid of Marine Wildlife in peril.Their hotline number is manned 24 hours a day

01825 765546

www.bdmlr.org.uk/

Two of our semi resident seals a female called Trunk and a Male Grey Seal .

As well as running daily Sea Safaris we will be running Workshop Activities in our new Newquay Marine Centre at Newquay Harbour where you can book to learn all about these enigmatic Marine Mammals and how to identify them . to book please call our booking office on 

07582 466 122

Bounty was out fishing off Newquay yesterday when eagled eyed skipper Ant spotted an awesome  7m “Basking Shark!”….Passengers were treated to “up close and personal” views from deckside …Ant called skipper Chris who was out on a Sea Safari aboard “Atlantic Diver”…who redesignated his passengers as shark spotters and went to look for it. The huge dorsal fin was spotted first followed by sighting of a second smaller shark. They fed mouths open wide in circular movements gentley and quietly together to the delight of the lucky passengers.

The sightings of Basking Sharks have been down generally around the Western UK coastline by an average of 35% this year due perhaps to the lack of zoo plankton at surface, on which the sharks feed. It may be that the sharks are feeding deeper down , so we are not spotting their fins breaking surface . Many are turning up in Scotland, so more likely they have moved on through following a richer food source. All of this means that yesterday’s skippers and passengers were the incredibly lucky to see such a rare sighting!!

We launched a shark expedition later that evening but the sharks had gone down…however we were treated to an extremely close view of a Sunfish . Spotted by Tricia .Sadly it had an injury to its right fin but it came right up close to our stern and stopped to watch us watching it…People watching….brilliant!!

Slightly choppier conditions took the chum far and wide and attracted 1 small Blue Shark to Atlantic Diver today. Dolphins were still porpoising around the boat but at a greater distance and in less numbers than before. 15 Storm petrels danced across the tops of the waves and Fulmars lined up to steal the chum. Our journey home again was enhanced by the playful Common Dolphins..three swam into our bow wave and crossed from the fast cat’s bulbs and shot forwards leaping out of the water in turns. Returning to the harbour the Seals were following the boat in and the Gig boats were launching for practise. The Commercial potting boats were landing their crab and lobster and the lifeboat launched to rescue visitors cut off by the tide. Never a dull moment.

A Basking Shark…the second largest shark in the world has been spotted near Newquay by a local commercial Fisherman..aboard “Tis-ardly-on” …thanks Martin for the sighting!These magnificent creatures filter the equivalent of an olympic swimming pool every hour as they filter vast volumes of sea, into their enormous open mouths ,gathering up tiny zoo plankton through their gills which stick to the gill rakers and finally are swallowed down their tiny throats. At this time of year the plankton is at the sea surface so we can spot for them as their large Dorsal fin and tail fin break water surface. Atlantic Diver will be running Snorkel trips with the sharks when we have more sightings…keep a watch on the blog for more info. We were also treated to a spectacular display from a pod of about 10 common dolphins who had a calf riding the bow wave with them…Happy birthday to our special passenger who enjoyed her special Newquay Sea Safari. We are seeing a lot of pods of Common Dolphins with young at the moment ….lucky us…its a sailors life for me!!

All trips watching/ snorkelling with basking sharks are run under the strict guide lines of the basking shark code of conduct . These beautiful sharks are a protected species under the wildlife and countryside act. We would request that all pictures taken by any one be sent to the Shark Trust with location details and date for photo ID …thanks 

for more information about the plight of basking sharks and the basking shark code of conduct please follow the following link: http://www.sharktrust.org/content.asp?did=35501

We took the Atlantic Diver and the Bounty out into the Bay on a lovely warm spring day to have their photos took for the new website. 

The extremely cold winter conditions created an ice extravaganza along Cornish beaches the past few days….The rock pools at South Fistral were frozen and even the deeper pools had a layer of about 10cms thick ice…it is very strange to see the sea still. Icicles again hung down from the rocks in stalactight fashion..it was breath takingly beautiful. Despite this there were still surfers trying to catch a wave or two…now thats dedication!!            

People often ask us WHAT we do during the long winter months…..well with two boats to keep looking beautiful and Maritime Coastguard Agency strict and thorough Boat surveys the main answer is fairly obvious…A lot of elbow grease for antifouling two boat bottoms!!!and this isn’t just reserved for the boys…there is no escape. Atlantic Diver has been undergoing maintainance and painting in Padstow and is now in Padstow Harbour awaiting some decent weather to get back out on the ocean wide. We have several seal surveys to look forward to and are available for any charter be it Sea Fishing in Newquay or Padstow or a scenic Sea Safari to spot for the many seals especially present at this time of year.We have been spotting dolphins from the land too and recently a dolphin passed through as close in as Fistral Bay. The sea birds are beginning to return to their breeding spots and meet up with last years parnters and I was treated last Friday to a huge gathering of Gannets bomb diving the water near to the Chick Rock….it was spectacular to hear them call.Chris has been Master of a boat surveying the sea bed bottom in Dorset and SouthHampton in between boat maintainance here and is missing the huge array of marine wildlife we are so lucky to have off Newquay. We are lucky to live and work in such an amazing place..”I LOVE NEWQUAY!!!!”

Newquay Sea Safaris and Fishing are featured by “this is Cornwall ,with videos of the recent basking shark and dolphin sightings…check it out for some lovely footage….enjoy…with thanks to Jo for publishing it.

VIDEO:

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/VIDEO-Common-dolphins-regular-visitors-Newquay/story-13158160-detail/story.html