“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.
Tucked well back in the shelter of a Cornish Cave was a tiny female seal pup in trouble suffering from multiple bite wounds . She weighed in at just 17kilos and fortunately a kind member of the public called the "British Divers Marine Life Rescue 24 hour hotline" and a crack team of Marine Mammal Medics were sent to the rescue. The cliff team rescuers Dan and Chris scaled down the cliff and it wasn't long before she was assessed and taken to Gweek's Cornish Seal Sanctuary for rehabilitation. At this time of year the Grey Seals are pupping and breeding and the little weaners often get into trouble during the first few weeks of life as they are only under the protection of their mothers for the first three weeks of life. For information on what to do if you suspect a seal is in trouble please click on the link below:
http://www.bdmlr.org.uk/index.php?page=stranded-animals
Lots of exciting "Things to Do " this weekend at Newquay Harbour as Newquay Marine College will be hosting a fun and educational "Ocean Discovery Day" on Saturday16th March ,when second year Marine Conservation and Wildlife and the Media will be guiding FREE 1 hour sea safaris aboard "Atlantic Diver"…our superfast 10m Blyth Powerboat Catamaran. Marine Wildlife to spot for will be …breeding birds which have started returning to the coast , pairing up for that all important nesting event. Last Saturday 3 Bottlenose Dolphins were actively hunting and foraging in Newquay Bay and "Medallion Man "..a semi resident Grey Seal to Newquay Harbour is back after leaving his winter haul out site. Take a look at the below poster and call Leyla to book onto trip before all the free places run out. Weather is looking promising so far and its a fun filled day with rockpool rambles, Cornwall seal group stall, Blue Reef guides and lots more…looking forward to seeing you all and do come and support our local students.
"https://docs.google.com/file/d/1LAdevCQoK0tG8_3Ea7q6rR4k0pB8yN6_qEQD7LwpVFu7_2D_qu_Ht2If5OVr/preview"
any questions..add a comment below and we'll do our best to advise…happy boating..Annabelle
Sad news that a female seal pup that was rescued, rehabilitated and released back in the New Year by British Divers Marinelife Rescue Marine Mammal Medics and RSPCA West Hatch had turned up at Lundy Island….(a Special Area of Conservation and Marine Conservation Zone and idealic conditions for Grey Seals)…with thick blue netting entangled around her neck. The Lundy Island Wardens were extremely concerned for her well being and through BDMLR and Sue Sayer of Cornwall Seal Group organised a visit to the island so that BDMLR Medics could attampt a rescue.
Medics gather at Ilfracombe about to board the ferry the "Oldenberg" to cross the Bristol Channel to Lundy Island where the Wardens were investigating some blue netting they found on the beach which looked suspiciously like the netting around the seal's neck…could the seal have broken free….we spent the next 4 hours quietly observing the seals who were, logging, playing and hunting in breath takingly beautiful coves around the beaches . Photos were taken so that Sue Sayer who holds an enormous Photo ID data base of Grey Seals who attempt to id the seals to see if indeed the West hatch seal was finally free.
We watched as adult females and juveniles passed by…ahh what a lovely way to spend a day….we now await the results and thank all involved in the attempted rescue including the ferry staff .
Awesome Happy New Year at sea today as we spotted 8 Bottlenose Dolphins off St Ives in glorious Cornish Winter "Sunshine". Atlantic Diver was loaded with delighted Wildlife Surveyers who were treated to a wildlife extravaganza of Bottlenose Dolphins, Harbour Porpoise, Grey Seals, Guillemots, Razorbills, Gannets Diving, Kittiwake, Raven, Mediterranean Gulls, Rock Pippet and Little Egret…and unbelievably a Barrel Jellyfish.
The Dolphins were hunting and Playing today and followed our boat along the survey for some 30 minutes and were bow riding the front of "Atlantic Diver" from time to time using their tail flukes to bat the hulls from side to side.
We took images of their fins to carry out Photo Identification. Each Dolphin has a unique fin shape, markings or nicks missing as seen in images here and this helps us to identify each individual .
Our winter 2 hour Sea Safaris are continuing throughout the season weather permitting and as is proven today are as exciting as the summer months. A basking shark was spotted off Penzance just before christmas…a rare sighting but with wildlife anything can happen…off again tomorrow…still hoping for Orca Sighting which we have seen in the past at this time of year between Newquay and Padstow. Anyone interested in joining these special approx 6 hour surveys should contact us for details and dates.
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:
