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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!!

 

Newquay Marine College hosted the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Rocky Shore Surveying ERCCIS (Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly) Workshop on 2nd March. In true Uk style , the heavens opened and there was surf out at sea as well as lashing down on us determined volunteers. We all learned a huge amount and were able to put our new found Identifying skills into practise on Fistral Beach Rockpools, lead by Matt Slater of the CWT. We learned how to rockpool without causing damage and to send our findings off to www.orks.org.uk with GPS position. It is hoped that gathering info about the diversity of Newquay's marine wildlife will help  Newquay and the Gannel (which have just been  newly preposed for a Marine Conservation Zone) win through this time and become actual protected areas..all should benefit from this, the wildlife and ultimately the fishing/potting.

Below..Whelk Park and beautiful wall full of Beadlet Anenomies

Its amazing what wonderful sea creatures live in and around the rockpools. More info about these types of surveys and how you can help can be found on the Cornwall Wildlife Trust website.

 

 

Newquay's Celtic Bottlenose Dolphins starred in the famous T.V. series " Four in a Bed" in December 2013. Bed and Breakfast owners at Kallacliff Bed and Breakfast  in Newquay dreamt of seeing Dolphins for their special activity. Chris and I took them out on a beautiful Summer Day and within 1 minute of leaving Newquay Harbour, a pod of the infamous Bottlenose Dolphins were porpoising out of the water around "Atlantic Diver"….What a spectacular treat. The series has been the Buzz of Newquay since as we were all pleased that Newquay is becoming know for its amazing and diverse marine Wildlife.

We are offering  2 hourly Sea Safari Trips to spot for Marine Wildlife, including the Dolphins all year round. The breeding birds are gathering just offshore , so will be back on the their breeding rocks very shortly…give us a call if you fancy a trip out now that the storms seem to have passed.

Kallacliff Bed and breakfast are also open all year round and are taking bookings now on

www.kallacliffhotel.co.uk  01637 871704

We are also working together with Kallacliff this year , so you can find our details at their beautiful coastal boutique bed and breakfast.

 

 

 

Dolphins put in an amazing appearance today at the end of a Seal Survey and completely stole the show.

Here is the video Chris (Atlantic Diver's skipper) took

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10202331756307661&l=5417023402595672036

Six Celtic Bottlenose Dolphins appeared like magic at our bow emerging from the brown muddy sea. The water visibily down west was still poor unlike off Newquay , where the sea was back to azure blue as the storm merk has cleared. It made spotting the 3.2m Dolphins fairly tricky but we managed to captured a few of their surface breaths on film to share with you.

Chris slowed down our speed to a gentle crawl as they had 1 juvenile and what looked like last year's calf with them. The adults became impatient and began to use their tail flukes to physically thump "Atlantic Diver's" twin hulls from side to side, (a phenomenum we have experienced before) as if to say …hurry up we want to play. Chris kept a steady and sure path as is suggested in WiSe ( wildlife safe operator guidelines) and left the pod after a short while to continue our seal survey.

A solatary pretty female Grey Seal popped her head up during all of the Dolphin Dancing as if to say .."Hey this is supposed to be a Seal Show!" but she wasn't alone as we saw other Seals in various stages of moulting as we travelled the coast.

It was a fantastic day at sea, starting off before sun up. The Breeding Seabirds are back in good numbers which was pleasing to see after the huge amount that have been washing up on the North Cornwall Coast dead , after the destructive and seemingly never ending storms. It was most satisfying to see them today in the Glorious sunshine perched on their ledges ready for breeding.

Our Friends from Koru Kayaking joined us today to enjoy the Marine Wildlife at its best and we shall be taking part in a kayack trip with them shortly to share their guiding of North Cornwall….What a great place to live or visit, there is so much Marine Wildlife to enjoy. Tomorrow we shall join with other ourdoor providers to decide how best to view our spectacular Cornish Wildlife withour causing Disturbance , so that we can Champion it , whilst ensuring its' very future still exists!

A second trip of the day saw  Bottlenose Dolphins this time a little closer to Newquay, still actively foraging….WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sea Safaris are currently running as 2 hour trips but if anyone wants a longer trip to view North Cornwall Wildlife over an extended trip please get in touch on 07860927833 and we can arrange a bespoke package.

Lucky us living and working in stunning Cornwall.

Happy Dolphin Day!!!!!!!!!!

 

What a fabulous day …Newquay Marine Group joined up with St Agnes, Looe, The Helford and Polzeath Marine Conservation Groups today to carry out a Shore Search at Looe for named important Marine Species whose recorded presence will help support the preposed and established MCZs ( Marine Conservation Zones)around our beautiful Cornish Coastline. It is hoped that in taking care of our wildlife that not only will it thrive and prosper as in Lundy Island ….a long established and experimental no take zone, with the added benefit of locals and tourism enjoyment of the wildlife. Newquay and the river Gannel are newly preposed and its thought that whilst potting and netting may be permitted only trawling may be banned but this is still all to be decided. Supporting our local potters by buying local "Newquay Crab " will help the local Commercial Fishermen support the MCZs.

It was great to see this Shore Crab above in full berry. She was returned to the same spot in the rockpool after recordings were taken to register and send off.

 

 these anemones are predatory creatures resembling strawberry jelly when out of the water but have reaching projections when immersed in water that produce venom to catch fish and crustacean…look like beautiful but deadly flowers!!

The Marine Conservationalists carefully search for BAP ( Biodiversity Action Plan) species amongst the encrusted Gullies and rockpools.

Below Gabi and Kyle from Newquay Marine Group help us.on their first Rockpool Ramble.

Ok Here it is the second Stalk Jelly of the day, we found 4 in all…Can't see it? well its on the top left of the seaweed…yes ….its very hard to spot Stalk Jellies!!!

 

I just thought I would share with you this beautiful picture of trunk from today. She is a semi resident seal that reguarly comes into Newquay Harbour. This was taken at the stern of our boat "Atlantic Diver" while we waited to get moorings after a beautiful calm Sea Safari with some fabulous passengers.

We watched Phillip and Kevin ..local fishermen, hauling their catch of Newquay Spider Crabs, Newquay Brown Crab and Newquay Lobster. This is a very sustainable catch…an industry we support as there is very little bycatch. Its important to champion sustainable local fisheries by buying local Newquay Shellfish.

There were seals in a the sea foraging near a local haul out site and a mixture of Guillemots and Razorbills on ledges.

See how tricky it is to spot these seals when they are against the rocks..she is just off to the left of these rocks watching us on Atlantic Diver watching her.

 

 

Newquay Sea Safaris and Fishing Boat Trips are going out every day now (weather permitting) . Crew and passengers of both "Atlantic Diver" and "Atlantic Explorer" have been enjoying the incredibly beautiful sunshine which has been bathing the Newquay coastline in glorious sunshine. Newquay really has been living up to her title of "Coast of Dreams"

The Mackerel is in the Bay now ,with Ben and I catching a whole box in less than an hour to smoke at home in our fish smoker. I also made an amazingly tasty mackerel pate.

Mackerel is a great alternative to tuna and eating it is ,not only healthy for you but takes the pressure off the  tuna stocks. Ben my son who is an apprentice rod and line caught fisherman and potter was naming the larger catch as Tuna as they were sooo BIG. For those that dont have a smoker you can make a simple mackerel pate by

• baking about six mackerel fillets with salt , pepper and a sqeeze of lemon juice for about ten minutes in oven gas mark 6
• fork cooked fish into a bowl
• add 2 large teaspoons of horseradish  sauce and a small tub of creme fraich
• mix with another squeeze of lemon juice
• serve in a pretty dip bowl with plenty of crusty bread slices, some peashoots, a wedge of lemon and ENJOY..hmmm the taste of a Newquay Summer.

For other recipe ideas try…http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/popular-ingredients/fish-and-seafood/mackerel

drop us a line and let us know how your mackerel recipes went

 More fantastic news ..Dr Who our Semi Resident Grey Seal is back

Took these stunning pics as we worked our way along the North Cornwall Coastline .