Wednesday, 23 April 2014

Tour at 13:00

Report from Elding and Elding II: Once again the weather was wonderful, sea conditions best it could get. A slight chilly breeze from the North but warm enough that most passengers didn´t use our free overalls. We sailed west and soon saw lots of splashes, Dolphins! White-beaked Dolphins in fact as far as the eye could see. At least 100+ individuals, in scattered smaller pods. They were leaping, breaching, resting, traveling, surfacing fast. Doing what dolphins do. We sailed on for a bit longer and after 30-40 minutes more sailing we spotted a Minke Whale, seen only once and disappeared and seen again in the distance. Very difficult minkes this afternoon and almost impossible to show the passengers. While we were waiting for the Minke a very interactive pod of 3-5  Harbour Porpoises showed up, one came swimming right by the boat and looked up at the passengers as they looked down. We tryed searching for more Minke Whales but they were all very difficult, to make up for the difficult minkes we sailed back past the dolphins for another look.

-Megan and Linda

Tour at 09:00

Report from Elding and Elding II: The weather showed us summer this morning, with clear blue skies, strong sun and perfect sea conditions. It really couldn´t be better. The wildlife was shy this morning and not so many seabirds around. We did find a small pod of 4-6 Harbour Porpoises that everyone got a great look at and a Minke Whale that surfaced many times. Elding II had about 3-4 around there boat but as soon as Elding decided to leave our Minke and head in that direction they all became more difficult so we decided to travel a bit further out. The highlight though was all the puffins, they were everywhere. It is wonderful to see them all back home again and enjoying the sunny day.

-Megan and Linda

Birds seen on today´s tour include: Puffins, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Fulmars, Black backed Gulls, Glaucous Gulls, Guillemots, Shags, Eider Ducks, Great Skua.