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Cormorants and shags were out in their masses today and lucky passengers were able to see long and far due to yet another spectacular calm day at sea out on our Newquay Sea Safari. We were extremely lucky to spot a Great Northern Diver amongst a group of Cormorants perched on the rocks and also 1 male grey sea, 2 pretty female seals and 1 juvenile seal who popped their heads up to people spot us on the Bounty. A pod of approximately 15 Common Dolphins with a calf joined us riding in our  bow wave as we gradually returned to newquay Harbour spotting for dolphins and Basking Sharks.

April went out as fishing frenzy aboard the “Atlantic Diver” and May came in as Fishie Galore aboard the “Bounty”, (skippered by  Anthony Hills). A spectacular array of species was caught during our 2 and 4 hourly deep sea fishing trips with Ling up to 12lb and Black Bream to 2 1/2 lb as well as mackerel, cat shark,gurnard, cod pollack,congor eel,launce and pouting…Happy Days!! This is what sustainable fishing is all about..rod caught and plenty of different species to cook and taste.

Try this simple to cook and delicious recipe for a really fresh supper idea:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/ling_cod_with_tomato_and_orange/

27th April Trunk  a  Grey Seal in Newquay Harbour investigating the underwater camera..she obviously wants to be a film star like medalion Man!

26th April 2011 The Crisp Boys are back in town Fishing from Atlantic Diver with catches of cod up to 81bs ,Wrasse, Whiting, Gurnard and at least 50 shimmering blue/green mackerel…fit for the B-B_Q…hmmm yummy! Whilst the fishing Frenzy took place out at sea …our new toy arrived in the guise of an underwater camera with top deck TV monitor!! Now all can share in the magic of the world which lies beneath the boat. Can’t wait to try it! Medallion Man popped up to see all the fish activity back at the Newquay Harbour.

The weather in Newquay has been rather challenging this week but it didn't put off a group of stags who stayed the course and caught a dozen Pollack , a dozen Cod , plus plenty of Mackerel for a fishtastic  Bar-B-Que later .Hope this is a good omen for a long and happy marriage. Thanks to Matt ( Howler) for putting the trip together.

All aboard for the dive trip of the century..as we left Padstow Harbour, “Atlantic Diver” cut through the glassy sea in the warmth of the newly found July Sunshine..awesome in itself you would think…Chris  let out full throttle and off we sped for a 30mile journey to the wreck site the REWA…2 Puffins flew past followed by numerous Gannets and hundreds upon hundreds of Manx Shearwaters…spectacular watching them take off from the waters surface, circle and reland again. Then over about half way through, a pod of about 80 Commom Dolphins  including calves were actively hunting, blowing bubbles from below and coralling in circles. Behind them was a pair trawler and having read recent research it would suggest that the dolphins have a familiarisation with the fishing vessel….or was it the other way around?

About 2 mile on and we spotted 1 loan Bottlenose Dolphin …unusual we thought, on its own …when…suddenly the tell tale bubbleblows surfaced and we realised there were more, at least 25 surface and porpoised out of the sea, some came to join us in our journey whist others reained actively hunting. Again calves were present and one adult had pocks marks all over its body. The water visibility was so clear that we could see ever y rake mark on their bodies’…..just breath taking. During this we passed 4 Potuguese Man-of-war jellyfish just below the surface, there may have been more but we passed rather rapidly.

Smiles all round and divers safely enjoying their dive, we waited still spotting for more Cetacean encounters. Two divers surface when….A MINKIE WHALE surfaced scooping up great mouth fulls of plankton….quick get the cameras….again it surface and again, circling Atlantic Diver and eventually came 100m to our port side…at this stage we realised that it was over twice the size of our 10m Blyth Catamaran and so with the surfacing pattern and the dorsal fin size and shape,we reidentified as a Fin Whale…..WOW absolutely AWESOME…best day ever. Divers continued to surface and some saw the whale…what a sightb that would be underwater during your decompression stops!!! Loving this job !! Thanks guys for booking our boat!!:0)

A beautiful 3.6m Thresher Shark was bycaught in bass fishing nets 100m off Tintagel yesterday and landed in Newquay Harbour . Sadly occassionally cetacean like harbour porpoise, dolphins,and Seals and in this case Sharks become net entangled and often drown as a result. The target fish was Bass which we can only guess the shark was feeding on as they eat small fish, squid and other small sharks. The commercial fisherman kindly allowed us to record the size of the sharks dorsal fins and tail fin as this is a "BAP" ( Biodiversity Action Plan) species which the government has funded to monitor the health of the species. All sightings or landings of this species are useful to determine the population's health. The shark was landed whole and all of the carcus sold .

Fantastically calm conditions at sea yesterday enabled us to see hundreds of Common Dolphins and every sea bird around for miles ,as we powered out to deep ocean 20miles offshore. The shark cage  was an easy slide in as the mill pond conditions continued throughout the stunning August day. Pod after pod of common dolphin fed alongside diving gannets until the trip became a dolphin not sharking trip. Juvenile and dolphin calves played inquisitively close to the cage until ushered by the adults to rejoin the pod. We watched and listened to the dolphins tail slap as they rounded up the fish in an amazing display of team work fishing. The team work continued aboard Atlantic Diver as would be shark divers Karen and James vied for top fishing position ( sorry Karen ,James won). despite copious oily chum and a slick to die for no shark was brave enough to show its face around the mass of dolphins. The spectacular show continued after we shut up shop and headed home as pod after pod still feeding leapt and porpoised out of the sea, with a few occassionally breaking the ranks to dance and play in our bow wave. Not exactly the choice of marine wildlife today but one of the most enjoyable days I’ve ever had at sea…thanks to the dolphins and our passengers who made the day such fun.

Annabelle crewed up  aboard The Spirit of Plymouth to join the Marine Biological Association Scientists who brought Marine Science to local children ,learning  whist enjoying the fun of a cruise. Plankton samples were taken and observed, marinelife includng: Gannets, Oyster Catchers, Cormorants, Shags and numerous Gulls were recorded by the young stundents in their new role as marinelife surveyors. Water salinity tests were taken using high tech equipment loaned by the MBA. The Crew gave us a steady jaunt around Plymouth Sound so we could deploy our equipment…lucky us ..it was a perfect day for a cruise. The young minds were stimulated through play and a great day was had by all. Many thanks to all of the staff at the MBA for organising a superb learning experience and the crew of Spirit of Plymouth for looking after us so well.  

20th April ..Sun , sea and seals. A bunch of seal enthusiasts took to the high seas aboard Atlantic Diver on a stunningly hot April’s day to record seals along the spectacular North Cornwall coastline.

Male, female and some gorgeous hauled out juvenile grey seals were dotted about.

Two Cornish Choughs also flew Jurassic Park style across the rugged cliff tops.. Hurray! Our Cornish birds be back.