Friday, 18 September 2015

Tour at 13.00

Report from Eldey: The weather could not have been better, the swell calmed down, the clouds cleared and the wildlife was amazing. We saw at least 5 minke whales, two traveling together and one that seemed to be either playing or being annoyed by a pod of 3-4 white-beaked dolphins. It was traveling so fast and big splashes were made and easily seen in the distance. One minke whales also surfaced 3 times just 20 meters from the boat, this was just wonderful to see a wild animal feel comfortable to approach so closely. We also had another pod of 6-7 white-beaked dolphins near the beginning of the tour, where we saw our buddy Conor, an individual been observed since 2013. An incredible tour.

-Megan Whittaker

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: It was a nice sail into the bay this morning, skies were quite overcast and there was a swell from the westerly winds, which cause a few green faces but generally everyone really enjoyed the tour. We saw 3 different pods of white-beaked dolphins, in one of the pods we saw Sophie, a dolphin that has been seen since 2013 and seen quite a lot of this year. There must have been maybe 3- 4 in the first 2 pods and at least 8-9 in the 3rd and last pod we saw, the pod that included Sophie. It was the minke whales that we saw first, was able to follow one individual for a while and later in the tour saw one other if not two but difficult to be definite. The gannets were also amazing as the plunged into the water for food. 

- Megan Whittaker

Birds seen on today´s tour include: Northern Gannets, Northern Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Common Guillemot, one Arctic Tern, Eider Ducks, Black-backed Gulls and great cormorants.