Tuesday, 13 October 2015

Tour at 13:00

We had lovely weather and after about 45mins of sailing we meet with a big pod of white-beaked dolphins, a group or about 5-6 animals that were travelling at about 6-7knots, they came faster towards us and then carried on at a steady speed on the other side of the vessel. Another vessel came to join us but then the dolphins went for a long dive and were not seen again. The captain then spotted a very big blow in the distance, we searched the area but the blow was not seen again until about 45mins later when a passenger spotted a big blow again, we turned the boat and saw a very tall visible blow. Unfortunately, we could not identify the whale but from the size of the blow it must have been a very large whale, maybe a fin whale. After waiting for 20-30 minutes another pod of 4 white-beaked dolphins came to join us in the waiting. The whales seem to dive for ever and after about 30 minutes we had to give up and start heading home. The skies cleared up and it became a warm and beautiful sail home. 

-Megan Whittaker

Tour at 09:00

Report from Eldey: A misty morning but it cleared up later on in the tour. Quite beautiful to see the dark clouds and the rain falling in the distance. It was a little blustery and rainy in some points of the tour but generally it was calm and dry. We saw a variety of birds, even some that we don´t see very often such as the sooty shear water and long-tailed ducks. Unfortunately no cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) were seen, even in very good spotting conditions. Passengers were disappointed as was the crew that could not show them. We offered complimentary tickets at the end of the tour, which gives them a free tour in the next 2 years. Hoping they will have better luck next time. 

- Megan Whittaker

Birds seen on today´s tours include; Northern gannets, northern fulmars, black-backed gulls, glaucous gulls, kittiwakes, eider ducks, great cormorants, common guillemots, razorbills, long-tailed ducks, a great skua and a sooty shearwater.