Ever wondered what a Skipper buys his wife for her birthday!!!! Chris found this rum cask in need of renovation and fixed it up ,adding some original Rum Tub Brass Letters ….Hic…rum was lovely!
"Up Spirits" was between 11am and midday when 70mls of rum ration were given to the crew onboard the old ships….wonder if skipper will be dishing out the rum to leyla and I this summer???
One of the most amazing life time experiences began Saturday 27th of August which was the start of the National Whale and Dolphin week where our crew at Newquay Sea Safaris and Fishing were recording all of the huge variety of our fantastic Marine Wildlife we were seeing here during our sea safaris and diving trips off the Newquay Coast and sending them in ,to add to a huge uk data base. Dave Jarvis..Area Manager for British Divers Marine Life Rescue contacted us to say there were approximately 100 Dolphins moving up from St Ives in a Newquay direction. It was thought they may be a superpod of Bottlenose Dolphins which would have been incredible as we only have a Celtic inshore population of 30 on the fin photo ID Database. We as a Master WISE ( wildlife safe) dedicated boat and Marine Mammal Medics were tasked to establish the identity of the pod. Atlantic Diver our 10m catamaran had gone aground after a busy day’s wildlife watching, so we called Dan Murphy who was conducting a Seawatch at St Agnes Head for “Seaquest Southwest” ..a project run by Cornwall Wildlife Trust whereby volunteers record an effort based survey of Marine Wildlife from dedicated cliff top points on certain Sundays throughout the year, in an effort to establish wildlife hotspots which could aid conservation measures in the near future. Dan said he could see at least 100 Common Dolphins and also about 11 Bottlenose dolphins from their position and they were heading toward us…..eagerly as the boat floated we stealtherly made our way out of Newquay Harbour with a few friends and family on board. Carefully we made our way out passed the Headland and began spotting for that iconic sight of a fin breaking the water’s surface. The light was fading and the sea looked flat and dark against the heavy skyline, then suddenly there was a splash to our port side followed by a dolphin porpoising out of the water and leaping head first back down, followed by another surfacing with a hugely tall eerily pale Fin…oh my God….Risso’s Dolphins.!!!!
W
atchers on board were ecstatic, this is indeed a rare sighting for us off Newquay and I have only ever seen one before at a stranding on Perranporth beach that we successfully rescued in May2012. Chris Lowe my hubbie and skipper cut the engines and we floated quietly on the sea and feasted our eyes in a hushed silence in awe of the spectacular hunting and feeding of at least 7 Risso’s Dolphins which surface about every 5-6 minutes with their beakless heads turning on the side on the odd occasion to glance a look back up at us. Usually a boat shy Dolphin they came ever closer as they worked their way through a planktonic slick. Their colours varried throughout the pod from three smaller ,ghostly pale, white coloured younger dolphins which we could see through the incredibly clear water as they swam beneath the waves to larger very dark grey , almost black larger dolphins with deep white scars through their dorsel fins and bulbous heads. Goosebumps prickled up on my arms as we enjoyed the rare spectacle and pronounced ourselves the luckiest ***** ever!!!! As the night drew in darker we made back for port feeling full of uplifting joy and leaving this rare and beautiful pod to continue its nightime feeding .
We are sharing the data of these sightings with other Marine Wildlife Boats via a new group that has been set up this year called “Cornwall Marine Life Boat Operators” which at present is a collaboration of five founder members of Cornish Wildlife Boats spread around the beautiful Coastline…Marine Discovery, Newquay Sea Safaris and Fishing , Orca Sea Safaris, Padstow Sealife Safaris and Charles Hood and also other active Marinelife Group leaders. The aim is as “Marine Champions” to premote watching wildlife without causing disturbance and to share our data for the benefit of future conservation and research accessibility for other academics , whilst educating members of the public about these wonderful creatures in the hope that as a collective we lead by example and ulitimately encourage others to safeguard our oceans and protect the habitat that the Flora and Fauna need to survive. By watching our wildlife safely we are ensuring that they are there for future generations to enjoy.
Our Sea Safaris will be running daily throughout the next few months, to book please call 07582 466122.
….what a wonderful place Newquay is!!
“Atlantic Diver” was out Trolling for plankton today with Newquay Marine Group. The group enjoyed sunshine and blue skies today and examed the samples at Cornwall Marine College labs.
There were multiple samples of Copepods, the Basking Sharks favourite’s Zoo plankton, Jellyfish, Crab Larvae, Arrow Worms, Barnacle Moults, Sea Squirt, multiple Phytoplankton.
The Basking Sharks are on their way.
Wow…Jellyfish galore just off Newquay Headland…our Cornish summer phenomenum of thick
" Smacks" of moon jellies and blues all tightly clustered in a thick floating carpet of Plankton , drifting at the mercey of the tide , glistening and twinkling like glass baubles bobbing about in the crystal blue sea.
The three Grey Seals that reguarly visit Newquay Harbour have for the past 2 weeks been joined by a new seal..as yet not identified by the Cornwall Seal Group…All four seals were enjoying an easy meal from the Newquay tripping boats ,with Trunk the pregnant female struggling now to reach high out of the sea to grab a fish.Justin Retallick and his young family returned with a good catch of Pollack and Mackerel from the 2 hour Mackerel fishing trip aboard” Atlantic Diver.” The children caught the fish but the mums who were enjoying a glass or two of Pimms back on land will be doing the cooking explained young fiherman Ben Retallick….bet the girls opted for a bar-b-que instead..and we all know who takes charge of those!!
During the intense process of trying to free the whale we watched the water surface after each time the whale swam down to see where it would pop up again, looking for ripples on the water, dark shadows or the ultimate tell tale sign of a whale.. the blow spraying out. During one such time a grey seal called “White Propellor” popped up looking for food…we all roared with laughter at the cheek of this little opportunistic feeder..as if it was saying..”Hey I’m the Star here” feed me! of course we didn’t !
The whale was spotted again on Wednesday and Atlantic Diver loaded with Marine Mammal Medics and Ben’s new punt again took to the high seas to attempt to come to the aid of the troubled whale. Immediately after leaving newquay harbour we were joined by a group of three Bottlenose Dolphins…wow wee they porpoised and spun infront of the boat’s bow but we were unable to stop and enjoy as we continued on our mission past breath takingly beautiful scenery, that was more befitting to a Newquay Sea Safari than a search and rescue. Gannets dived and Cormorants did their best to distract but sadly we were unable to find the stricken Whale as the weather moved in and waves dashed our deck whilst the mist pushed down the visibily and we retreated to the safety of Newquay Harbour, so we could search another day. Imagine the thoughts and suprise of the surfer who spotted the whale just 200m off shore and 100m from his surf board and kindly reported it in…not exactly an everyday catch a wave experience. 
thanks to all again who helped with this attempted rescue.
More news of the whale can be seen on this link :http://www.bdmlr.org.uk/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=850&cntnt01pagelimit=15&cntnt01returnid=54
Below is an amazing link to a sucessful if unplanned whale rescue…Its a real tear jerker :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k40iizMoLOw
Atlantic Diver was called by fellow Marine Mammal Medics at BDMLR (British Divers Marine Life Resue) to go to the aid of a whale ,spotted by a St Ives Fisherman ,which was believed to be net entangled. Chris Lowe , Annabelle Lowe and Mark ( air ambulance crew and BDMLRMMM) dashed to Atlantic Diver at Newquay harbour ,cast off and sped at superfast speeds that I have never seen her do before down to attempt rescue of the stricken whale. We carefully passed harbour porpoise and a sunfish on route passing through plankton slicks before slowing to begin the search of a needle in a haystack , for the encumbussed whale. Josh the BDMLR rescue rib met us after their equally fast launch from Hayle and both boats began the almighty task ahead.
Conditions were great for spotting and before long we saw what appeared to be a Minke Whale ,with small dorsal fin , feeding in the middle of a really soupie Plankton slick. Josh stood by to observe and spotted long whitish petoral fins….it was a Juvenile Humpback Whale!!!…net entangled around its dorsal fin and body beneath. Tactics were discussed and then brave Marine Mammal Medics: Faye, Dan ,Tim , Richard one other and with Phil at the helm began the process of attempting to cut through the thick rope. (” This is a job for trained medics only, as they say DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME”>>”Call the professionals BDMLR on 01825 765 546 if you spot this or any other marine creature in distress) After several exhilarating and exhaustive attempts it was decidied to leave the whale as the sun was begining to set , whale was beginning to tire and both rescue boats had a fair way to return through pot laid sea before safe return to harbour. The whale continued to feed as we saddly left it dragging along the netting.
This experience has highlighted to all the need to clean up our seas, collecting rubbish at sea as do several of the Cornish fishing fleet , (Newquay Harbour Included..thanks guys) through “Fishing for Litter” http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/cornwall/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8604000/8604632.stm
Organising or taking part in Beach cleans and the most importantly …..throw your litter in a bin or take it home. Recycling is easy.
A plea to all at or around the sea to report sighting of this whale to BDMLR as soon as possible after you spot it, with details of location, behaviour, direction of travel..many thanks. Many thanks too to all behind the scenes who worked so hard to try to free this beautiful whale.
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Another fun overwinter job is to service “Atlantic Diver’s” liferaft. At Liferafts and Inflatables, Ed Banyard offers an amazing service and even invites customers to see their Liferaft inflated. This gives an ideal opportunity for skippers and crew to familiarize ourselves with the life saving piece of equipment. We open the liferaft box and begin to inflate. It has two tubes for safety that inflate one at a time. A bag full of emergency survival kit is checked too and amusingly, it contains a SMALL handpump….skipper Chris immediately allocates possible job of keeping raft well inflated to Annabelle in the guise of “It will keep you warm love!”…hmmm I pulled the short straw there then!Luckerly this one inflates with a compressed gas cylinder and the job is done in seconds. For more info about the process please click on link below:
http://www.liferafts-inflatables.com/?page_id=12
A few hours later on the same day Ed and his team have the Liferaft back to Atlantic Diver and we are ready for sailing the ocean wide again. Passengers can feel safe that crew are confident in the deployment and handling of the liferaft.
Ever wonder what it looks like being deployed at sea…check out ed’s website for some video action…enjoy! Please click on the link below:
Despite the changeable Easter weather…a family from Belgium were enjoying a Sea Safari aboard Atlantic Diver and learning that Lobsters are actually "Blue" when they are fresh from the sea . They learned about ; Spider Crabs, Edible Brown Crabs , Star Fish and Lobster as well as meeting Medallion Man the semi -resident Grey seal to Newquay Harbour.
For more info about the lives of lobsters please visit our friends at The National Lobster Hatchery in Padstow or click on the link below for more info:
Chris and I were snorkelling today near to Newquay harbour when we swam right over the top of Medallion Man , Newquay's Semi-resident Grey Seal. He was fast asleep on the sea bed bottom, right next to a bed of kelp. It was really funny as the slight swell was rolling slightly backwards and forwards much in the same motion as a baby's cot would swing. He continued to snooze gently and then meerly peeped at us through one open eye before returning to his slumber. Lack of breath meant he returned to surface occassionally and at one point he hauled out on a close by rock and rolled onto his back for a real good back scratch…just like a big bear would do up and down a tree trunk. We amused him for a few seconds as he lolled off the slippery rock and over to us before again returning to log on the sea bed bottom….I Love MM!!!
Click on link below for you tube footage of him asleep on the seabed bottom
