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Wow…what a stunning day yesterday…most of the Newquay Harbour boats were out on trips which made for a frenzy of activity across  Newquay Bay! A visiting German couple were pleasantly suprised at the subtropical conditions we were experiencing..( weren’t we all)  as they boarded ready to enjoy the spoils of the ocean during one of our Newquay Sea Safaris. Seals ,Sunfish, Gannets, Cormorants, Shags ,Manx Shearwaters, Oyster Catchers, Harbour Porpoise and amazily..Common Dolphins hunting for Sprats surrounded the boat whilst a few porpoised infront of us…spectacular viewing. We were able to get some amazing pics for photo ID. Dusk signalled time to return to Harbour..reluctant but HAPPY

Dolphins galore at the moment….we have had a few spectacular dolphin viewing days. Three large Bottlenose Dolphins have been playing with the boat for the past few days, using their huge tail flukes to nudge the boat when we are stopped , conducting our marine wildlife talks during our sea safaris. Then jumping and twisting out of the water backwards in an amazing acrobatic display. Even our lucky divers this week have been treated to Common Dolphins circling the boat again whilst we were stopped waiting for divers to resurface. The Common Dolphin is much smaller than the Bottlenose Dolphin and has a beautiful hourglass pattern as seen in one of the pics here. They are very playful and love to compete with each other when riding the bow wave of Atlantic Diver

Acrobatic Short Beaked Common Dolphins swam around the divers today as they decompressed and slowly resurfaced. The beautiful and inquisitive cetacean swam from one group of divers to another as they amused themselves “human watching!” in the glorious July sunshine. The guys were just completing a dive on the HMS Rewa a World War One hospital ship wreck featured on the documentary made with Atlantic Diver….  ” Deep Wreck Mysteries”.This is the time of year the dolphins are giving birth or breeding so we have been having unbelievably fantastic sightings of them almost daily….fin tastic. Our last 2 blue shark cage diving saw a couple of pods feeding within a mile of our chum slick!! Our sea safari trips  are seeing the kittiwake chicks hatch out, seals hauled out , diving gannets and the porpoising dolphins. We were also lucky enough yesterday to also see 2 harbour porpoise…wow what a day to remember…dolphin heaven

I Loved this pic so much I've made it available for desk use (non commercial use please)

Experts are concerned about the number of by -caught Dolphins being washed up onto our beaches dead after becoming caught in fishing nets. Sadly often Cetacean, Seals and Turtles become entangled in fishing gear and die from Asphyxiation. The Cornwall Wildlife Trust are trialing Pingers which are devices that attach to the gear and emit sounds audible to the cetacean, in the hope that it will deter them from the net. Members of the public can report sightings of dead Dolphins, seals etc to  their hotline number:0845 201 2626 .For more info please click the link below:

 http://www.cwtstrandings.org/

To see the news article please click below link:

http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/

To learn more about the pingers, click here: http://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/conservation/livingseas/dolphin_pinger_trial

We can help by trying to purchase our fish supplies from dolphin friendly sources. It was really sad when Chris and I recorded the details of this little baby…It still had its soft baby dorsal fin , which told us it was a neonate.

Atlantic Diver was out on a Dive trip with Somerset divers on Sunday and came across this amazing Scene of Common Dolphins Tail Walking during what appeared to be a hunting strategy. The story has been picked up by localpress as it is such an unusual thing to see.

http://www.cornishguardian.co.uk/Dolphin-dazzles-sea-lovers-Newquay-coast-tail/story-19250066-detail/story.html

It was a spectacular day and both "Atlkantic Diver" and "Atantic Explorer" were out the the Flaming June sunshine. The sea was becalmed so we saw all manner of birds including a Puffin, a pod of 20 Common Dolphins, A Harbour Porpoise and 8 Grey Seals

Off shore there were lots of harmless and beautiful Moon Jellyfish which means there is plenty of plankton about …great for potential Basking Shark sightings!! Here of some of the Dolphin and seal pics I'd like to share with you….

Busy week this week and lucky us dolphins seen out on boats most days. Whilst out doing some C-Pod retrieval ..a device which carries out cetacean acoustic monitoring…and a bird survey…who should pop up on "Atlantic Diver's "starboard side but a beautiful Common Dolphin. They were 7 of them casually hunting right next to the boat…What a huge distraction from our bird survey..wow..they porpoised out of the sea a couple of times , crashing and belly flopping back down .totally awesome.

Atlantic Diving are again offering a chance to enjoy a 2 hour Sea Safari or 4 hour Fishing Trip from the superfast catamaran ” Atlantic Diver!”. All proceeds will be donated to the Tag- A-Turtle charity which is nearly half way through raising enough funds to Satelite Tag the next rescued and rehabilitated Loggerhead Turtle that is released from Blue Reef Aquarium. Details of the charity and to book your place  please click the link below:

 http://www.tag-a-turtle.co.uk/news.html

 This fun day event will take place on Saturday 31st March 2012 so that it is open to families as well. The sea birds are now coming back inshore onto the cliffs to start breeding, so there is lots of wildlife to spot during the Sea Safaris.The Grey Seals that travel along the beautiful Cornish Coastline are begining to come back into Newquay Harbour  and the surrounding area. Have fun learning about these little characters and learn to spot males from females. If we are lucky we may be treated to a glimpse of a pod of Dolphins. Bottlenose Dolphins reguarly feed along Newquay Bay. Enjoy learning about the Commercial Crabbing Boats that work out of the harbour but best of all come and experience our superfast boat trip whilst donating to this wildlife Charity!

Would -be Anglers learn the tricks of the trade from our friendly Cornish Skipper ,with your own rod and reel ,try to catch sustainably caught fish for “ee” suppers !!! Recent catches include :Cod, Pollack, Red Gurnard, Ling, Conger Eel and many more…..hot drinks available and proper toilet on board for your comfort.

Passengers are advised to arrive 15 minutes before the trip leaves to get parking space( available at Newquay harbour) and wear warm clothing as it is still early season.

Further details of all the great things happening in Newquay ,including this event can be seen by clicking on this link below:( with special thanks to Newquay.co.uk)

 http://www.newquay.co.uk/whats-on-in-newquay/details/289-newquay-tag-a-turtle-fund-raisers 



” Cracking catch for Young Ben Lowe” … the Newquay Voice Sport Fishing artcle this week by Roy.

Ben managed to bag himself an almighty 4lb and 9oz Tub Gurnard at his secret location , just off Newquay Harbour. At only 12 years of age Ben said it put up one heck of a fight but was looking forwrd to having it for his tea. We will be using a recipe from Hugh’s fish fight recipes…

http://www.fishfight.net/recipes/roast-gurnard-fillets-with-roast-potatoes/page:3

Valentine Warner well known celebrity chef and fishing enthusiast tries his luck at catching his supper aboard Atlantic Diver . The Optomen TV Production Company were filming “Coast To Coast” a new cooking series , fishing and cooking the catch as they toured the uk..ranging between Cornwall and Norfolk. His new fishy series starts tonight 24/07/2011 at 8pm on the Good Food Channel and is on every night until 28th July. You can catch more of his TV intro on:

http://uktv.co.uk/food/item/aid/645749/diplayVideo/hi 

Check out the video..we’re in it if you don’t blink….Val and his crew were great to work and fish with…it felt like we were having an amazing holiday somewhere exotic…it was Newquay Bay!!…Awesome ” Fish to Dish!”