Category: Uncategorised

Chris Chris and I completed our first Basking Shark Watch at Hella Point for the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Basking Shark Project…sadly no sharks in a force 5-6 which was quite spectacular to watch . The Scillonian braved the wild waves alongside at least 720 gannets that we counted gliding by at cliff top level..stunning. Many of the Gannets were juveniles. All in all not a day at sea but with the stunning scenary …and watching the sunrise…a very enjoyable day:0) The Plankton is still around so just waiting for some long hot days in the hope we see some Basking Sharks near Newquay. Keep watching on this site and www.atlanticdiver.co.uk to see when the sharks finally arrive.

The huge dark shape of the beautiful Bottlenose Dolphins caught our eye as we left Newquay harbour….lucky us!! This was to be the start of a very good few days seeing Bottlenose Dolphins ,Seals , Sunfish, Harbour Porpoise, Common Dolphins and Basking Sharks!

First sighting of the day began right outside Newquay Harbour, just off the Headland . Lucky Sharks Divers spotted a pod of 8 Bottlenose Dolphins actively feeding. They love "Atlantic Diver's twin hulls so much , 5 of them broke away and swam infont of the boat for a short period, surfing in the bow waves much to the delight of passengers before returning to their more important job of foraging as Atlantic Diver steamed 20 miles out to sea on our Blue Shark Cage Diving expedition.20

20 miles offshore…and far away from any possible swimmers or surfers , Would-be Shark Divers assisted preparing the "Rubbie Dubbie" ….good job this isn't smellivision!!

The warm fronts coming in from the Gulf Stream have seen the arrival of the Sunfish…we have had several sightings during the cage diving days. On most of the Blue Shark Cage Diving Trips we have had the wonderful experience of watching pod after pod of Common Dolphins, sometimes playing in Atlantic Diver's bow waves and also demonstrating their incredible hunting skills, tail lobbing and porpoising high out of the water…SPECTACULAR …with all having small calves and juveniles with them

and the adorable semi resident Grey  Seals Medallion Man , Trunk and Dr Who are mostly always there to greet us on return from our "Deep Ocean Adventure" Don't you just love this job!!!!were

Friday the 13th saw the arrival of another 7m Basking Shark. Colin Linne was skippering "Bootlegger" on a 2 hour Mackerel Fishing Trip on a reef just off Newquay Harbour when he and lucky pasengers spotted the Dorsal Fin breaking the water's surface as the huge shark fed open mouthed, filtering the Zoo Plankton through its gill rakers. Unusually the shark had a nik taken out of its Dorsal Fin which will make it easier to re identify on the Basking Shark photo ID Data Base. Many thanks to Colin and Crewman Graham for recording and forwarding these pics. Watch this space to see if the shark is already known to the Shark Trust or Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

Stunningly calm conditions at sea allowed us to have not only a superb dive but an unbelievably great view of a 5m Basking Shark whilst on the return journey to Newquay Harbour. We spotted a shiney Dorsal Fin on  "Atlantic Diver's " port side and after waiting patiently ,engines stopped ,the Gentle Giant , the second largest SHARK in the world , cruised slowly in circular patterns around us , feeding, mouth wide open, on the plankton that  lay heavy in the becalmed sea. Its cartilage bones inside its mouth were so white they were almost  iridescent!…Spooky!! The awe struck crew took pics for the Shark Trust Basking Shark fin Photo ID. Its fin was slightly damaged which will allow for easier reidentification and seemed to have some parasites dragging behind. Its snout was also scarred. A lucky sighting as it frequently feed just beneath the surface. Its always good practise to slow down when moving through these plankton rich areas ,to avoid damaging these immense and protected creatures.

Please click on link below for the Basking Shark Code of Conduct for boat users or snorkellers

http://www.baskingsharks.org/content.asp?did=26602

B

Several Basking Sharks have been feeding at surface just off Newquay , for the past few days and Guilford divers were fortunate enough to be out aboard Atlantic Diver" and see them on all three days, and captured underwater images of the beautiful sharks ….with many thanks to Simon and Kate for use of the underwater pics. Many thanks too to the Newquay cCmmercial Fishermen and Charterboat Skippers who are sending in sightings.

Imagine a 7m shark swimming past, mouth closed and looking right at you…the most exhilarating experience EVER!!! The shark appeared right over the wreck and fed briefly there, long enough for divers to record for us.

Just off the Newquay Headland , this bony Ocean Sunfish breached clean out of the water , right alongside "Atlantic Diver"…it swam at the surface Dorsal Fin flapping for several minutes , giving us all chance to take some superb pics. The Sunfish are feeding off the Plankton too. We have seen several over the past few days.

The visibility above and below the sea were superb…ahhh! what a fantastic day to be at sea!

Looking forward to this week's fine weather  and to seeing what else we are going to spot.

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