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
Two rare Leatherback Turtles have been spotted close to Newquay by local crabbing boats….sadly one had already died as it became accidently caught in pot ropes but the second spotted only a day later was fortunately disentangled by the skipper who said it was a large and very strong Turtle which swam immediately away after its release. Leatherbacks are not exactly native to our waters here but their superb thermoregulators and heat derived from muscle activity can raise their body core temperature to up to 18 degree celcius above the surrounding water temperature so the turtles can survive in our cooler sea temps which rarely get higher than 16 degrees unlike the Loggerhead Turtles which occassionally drift into our North Cornwall Coast along on the Gulf Stream and sadly get hypothermia, become unable to hunt, become dehydrated and if lucky are found and taken to the Blue Reef Aquarium for rehabilitation and eventual release into warmer seas.The Leatherback turtles are listed on the IUNC list of Endangered Species as Critically endangered and research shows that the main cause for this is the ingestion of plastic bags and other marine debri as well as human consumption in hotter climates and rarely bycatch. leatherbacks are the largest and fastest swimming turtle, travelling up to 35km/hour, diving up to 1 280m for 30-70 minutes. Their shell easily distinguishes them from other turtles as it has distinct ridges down its Carapace ( shell) which is made up of leathery skin unlike other turtles who have boney carapace. At this time of year the turtles will be foraging for jellyfish which are abundant , but their particular favourite is the Rhizostome or Barrel jellyfish, this helps to keep the jellyfish population down. For more info about Leatherback Turtles please see below link which was written by Prof. Matt Whitt…one of our local experts: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jan/05/leatherback-turtles-atlantic-journeys
Thanks also for pics and information given from the crabbing skippers
Mates enjoying a Bountiful catch aboard the “Bounty” today! A great range of species from Pollack, to Cod, Red Gunardand Pouting..all sustainablly rod and line caught and good eating fish. Skipper Ant is now also running evening Congor Fishing Trips from the “Bounty”, details of times of these trips can be found through our Newquay Sea Safaris and Fishing telephone booking line….Tight lines guys…
Newquay College Students counted well over 200 Guillemots at a breath takingly beautiful, isolated island North of Newquay Harbour whilst carrying out a Cetaecean, Grey Seal and Marine Bird Survey aboard Atlantic Diver. Gannets dived, seals swam close to the rocky outcrops and Guillemots flew past Jurrasic style calling their cheery “a-orrr” sound. Colonies like this , Cetaceans and Basking Sharks are often protected by the “Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981” but a new move by Hardliners to change the law so the protection stops could mean many of our British wildlife loose the vital legal protection they need to keep populations safe and healthy and free from harassment. 38 degrees hope to come to the rescue and are requesting signatures to support their petition to lobby the government to keep their promise of protecting our wildlife. Check it out on the following link and join hundreds of others working to keep them safe. http://www.38degrees.org.uk/dont-scrap-environment-laws . A Big thanks to Dave for bringing it to our attention.
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The new Grey Seal visiting Newquay Harbour yesterday greeted us on return from a spectacuarly beautiful Scenic Newquay Sea Safari where we spotted a seal hauled out and 4 in the sea. As yet the seal is unamed by the Cornwall Seal Group photo ID data base and so after spotting some unusually long ear flaps we have nicknamed this gorgeous seal “Shrek”. He is still a little timid but very respectful around Dr Who the large Bull Seal who always takes top spot in the begging for fish from the boats. Shrek has a few scars to his back which sadly points to prop strike..a hazard of becoming too close to boats. He has also picked up a fish feather and hook ! Hopefully this will work its way out or drop out during his annual molt. Lucky divers during the morning trips saw 2 basking sharks and two pods of common dolphins both with juveniles but we were unable to spot them later in the afternoon. However we did see a huge flock of at least 250 Gannets diving for fish which was quite spectacular and 1 compass jellyfish and 1 moon jellyfish.
Fynn caught this Lovely little Cod aboard Bounty….welll done Fynn
We began our Blue Shark Cage Diving Expedition on an amazing calm , hot, balmy summer's day….yes I do mean in the UK…off Newquay …deep out to sea where 32 of our British Sharks dwell . Our Shark enthusiasts boarded "Atlantic Diver" in Newquay harbour and off we sped passing Yachts racing and Dolphins playing…this was set to be a spectacular day!
Chris prepares the Rubbie Dubbie ready to attract the Sharks to Atlantic Diver! Good job this isn't Smellivision.
After only a short wait our first Blue Shark appeared…We watched in amazement as the 2.5m Blue Shark attacked the Rubbie Dubbie bag and tore it to shreds just below the surface of the water, its tail fin thrashing around with immense power….absolutely AWESOME!! viewing
Shark enthusiasts enjoying the Shark Cage waiting for next Shark to appear..earlier Divers were lucky enough to see two Common Dolphins swim right passed the cage…jealous !!
Common Dolphins were feeding a short distance from Atlantic Diver all day and provided great entertainment whilst we waited for the shark. A cute pod passed with a nursery of calves and had all of us cooing!
A few Blue Jellyfish floated past the cage and allowed us to explore their beautiful structure.
And sadly we had to say goodbye to Leyla…our Newquay Marine College ,Marine Conservation Work Experience student. Thanks for a couple of great weeks, she has experienced all weathers on the boat this summer and will no doubt join our team again soon
…good luck next year.
