Spring continues to be a bit of a mixed-bag in the Bay. We have had worse weather lately than we saw for much of the winter and sea temperatures are lower than this time last year. As a result we have not managed to get out as much as we’d like and there are major differences in what we are managing to find! The lack of jellyfish and sunfish is presumably due to the colder water and less extensive plankton blooms, but on the upside we have seen several Basking Sharks – probably for the same reason- which is a vast improvement on the last two years. Common Dolphins have remained offshore, now in smaller pods, and the less predictable group of Bottlenosed Dolphins have put in welcome performances off the Mount in the eel-grass, hunting cuttlefish. Risso’s Dolphins haven’t done that this May, and Porpoise have only been further west out of the bay. It is tempting to think the latter may be avoiding the Bottlenoses , but choppy weather always makes Porpoises harder to see.
Sea-birds have been more predictable with the usual resident Fulmars, non-breeding Gannets, auks and Manx Shearwaters regularly feeding in the Bay, though we have yet to see Storm Petrel. Puffins have been scarce. Recent strong winds pushed in a few migrating skuas and an early – or late – Balearic Shearwater! There were fewer sea-birds generally as the winds were more easterly – even producing more Swifts and Swallows arriving on migration than the hoped for skuas and terns. As last year, there are still many “winter visitors” lingering in the bay notably Great Northern Divers, one or two Black-throated Divers and Common Scoter. Our wintering Turnstones have mostly left but a few in stunning summer plumage are still delaying departure for the Arctic as well as over 30 Purple Sandpipers a couple of 100 yards from the Mermaid shop around Battery Rocks, occasionally joined by other waders such as Whimbrel, Dunlin, Sanderling and Common Sandpipers all pushing north.
Then there is the Eider….! “Frankie” as some people are calling him (after Frankie Howard “OOOOOaaw!” etc) is still sexually harassing the local black-backed gulls, Greater mostly but he has tried it on with Lessers too! When not eating crabs off the harbour mouth Frankie seems to like nothing better than chasing Great Black-baked Gulls to St Clement’s Island where he serenades and displays to them, and he has even taken to trying to soar over the quarry with the Lesser Black-backed. He has managed to get a response from some of them! Disturbing, sad, or sweet depending on your point of view!
Things can only get better……!
Wildlife and bird sightings so far this year.
/0 Comments/in Basking Sharks, Birds, Dolphins /by Vanessa ThomasSpring continues to be a bit of a mixed-bag in the Bay. We have had worse weather lately than we saw for much of the winter and sea temperatures are lower than this time last year. As a result we have not managed to get out as much as we’d like and there are major differences in what we are managing to find! The lack of jellyfish and sunfish is presumably due to the colder water and less extensive plankton blooms, but on the upside we have seen several Basking Sharks – probably for the same reason- which is a vast improvement on the last two years. Common Dolphins have remained offshore, now in smaller pods, and the less predictable group of Bottlenosed Dolphins have put in welcome performances off the Mount in the eel-grass, hunting cuttlefish. Risso’s Dolphins haven’t done that this May, and Porpoise have only been further west out of the bay. It is tempting to think the latter may be avoiding the Bottlenoses , but choppy weather always makes Porpoises harder to see.
Dolphins and seabirds seen on 1st Wildlife trip of 2017
/0 Comments/in Uncategorised /by Vanessa ThomasMermaid ll’s first trip of the year set out on a January day that put a lot of the previous summer to shame! The sun shone and the sea was flat and a few birders down to start their New Year lists in Cornwall joined us mostly in the hope of finding the returning Pacific Diver. This proved just as elusive from a boat as it usually is from shore as we only had one or two glimpses. Despite heading back to where the bird had been, it had already gone further offshore in search of bait-fish. There was no lack of other wildlife however; 40+ Common Dolphin showed well, “Sammy” the dominant Grey Seal bull and some of his harem and pups were relaxing on St Clement’s Isle, and there were good numbers of seabirds; 15+ Great Northern Diver, Gannets, 5 Eider including the resident drake, 3 Velvet Scoter, 16 +Common Scoter, Guillemots and 1 Razorbill, and we even managed distant views of the Eastern Black Redstart currently resident under the Rockpool Café at Mousehole.
If you would like to book one of our trips for 2017, please call 07901731201 or enquire at www.cornwallboattrips.co.uk/enquiry and we will get back to you.
The first pictures are of the Common Dolphin and “Sammy”. The bird pictures are as follows:- Great Northern Diver, Gannet, Eider male and female in flight, Velvet Scoter, flock of Common Scoter, Guillemot, Kingfisher in Newlyn harbour, Shag with a wrasse. Photos and text by Martin Elliot.
1st Pelagic Trip of the season
/0 Comments/in Birds, Dolphins /by Vanessa ThomasLeatherback Turtle frees itself
/0 Comments/in Uncategorised /by Vanessa ThomasBasking Sharks
/0 Comments/in Uncategorised /by Vanessa ThomasWe are glad to report sightings of Basking Sharks today. They were few and far between last year, but they have definitely arrived now. The Bay has been full of fantastic wildlife so far this year. The Bowhead Whale, Humpback Whales, Basking Sharks, Common Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphins, Harbour Porpoises, Barrel Jellyfish and Grey Seals and its still only May! Hopefully this bodes well for the rest of the season.
Penzance Pelagic Trips are back!
/0 Comments/in Basking Sharks, Birds, Dolphins, Seals, Whales /by Vanessa ThomasBowhead Whale in Mounts Bay
/0 Comments/in Uncategorised, Whales /by Vanessa ThomasWhat an incredible sight here in Cornish waters. A bowhead whale! These beautiful whales are usually found in Arctic or sub-Arctic waters, so you can imagine how dumbfounded we were to see one off Long Rock Beach! We watched in wonderment as this graceful creature surfaced and dived right in front of us, too stunned to even reach for the camera. As it started to move southwards, blowing as it went, we eventually regained our wits and tried to capture the moment. Unfortunately the photos aren’t great and most definitely do not do the moment justice, but they do prove that you never know what you might see here in Cornwall. The marine environment is changing every year and it is more than evident in the variety of species we are seeing here now.
A few facts on the Bowhead whale and why this sighting is so special:-
The bowhead whale got its name from its bow-shaped skull. It’s body is black with a whitish chin patch broken by what resembles a necklace of black spots. The bowhead is also identified by its lack of dorsal fin and two bumps which are usually visible above the water corresponding to the head and the back. The whale produces a V shaped blow from paired blowholes situated at the highest point of the head, often reaching 7m in height. We did see a few fantastic blows in the bay. The bowheads baleen is the longest of any whale at over 3m and is used to strain tiny prey from the water. The whale’s blubber is the thickest of any animal!
The reason for the thickness of the blubber is due to it’s natural habitat of Arctic waters. They are often found close to the edge of the Arctic ice shelf. Now we all complain of the cold in Cornwall, but the waters are definitely not Arctic! Their bow shaped head is used to break through ice up to 60cm thick. Now that’s some ice! Bowheads migrate north and south of the Arctic as the ice retreats and expands. The whales prefer bays, straits and estuaries, and are seldom found far from ice floes. That is why this was truly was a spectacular sight.
Dalmatian Pelican seen by our Wildlife Expert Martin Elliot
/0 Comments/in Uncategorised /by Vanessa ThomasThe Dalmation Pelican was first seen over Gwithian on Saturday, but was mis-identified as a White Pelican. It was correctly identified as Dalmatian Pelican from photographs taken on Sunday (8th) when the bird was seen on the sea off St Ives and later Cape Cornwall and Land’s End. For the last 2 days the bird has been moving between the scattered small pools between Sennen and St Levan. The bird was seen in Poland in early April, then crossed Germany and France before reaching Cornwall. Dalmatian Pelican used to breed in Britain in the Bronze Age and currently breeds from eastern Europe- particularly northern Greece, across the former Soviet Union, through Mongolia into China and south east Asia where it’s populations have declined drastically through persecution by fishermen and habitat loss. The World population is estimated at less than 15,000 birds and, despite conservation measures resulting in increasing or stable populations in eastern Europe and Turkey, the species’ IUCN classification is “Vulnerable”.
New season on its way!
/0 Comments/in Uncategorised /by Vanessa ThomasWell a new season is on its way! The Mermaid II is currently out of the water having her annual maintenance work done, and a freshen up! The engine has had a good over haul and now Adrian is praying every day for fine weather so he can paint her up! So far the hull has had a good sand down and a fresh lick of anti-fouling, new anodes and a smart new white line!
Lets hope the weather this year is better than last. We suffered with strong winds last summer which did not make for very pleasurable sea conditions on many occasions. However, our sightings of dolphins, porpoises and whales were extremely good, and hopefully made up for the bumpy rides!
Easter is early this year, so Mermaid II will be back in the water and ready to go at the end of March.
Please note our new prices. We have always tried to keep our prices low so everyone can enjoy the beauty of our seas. Unfortunately, extra expenses have been put on to our business, so we have had to make these increases this year.
We hope you are coming to see us this season and look forward to lovely sunshine, clear seas, plentiful marine life and tight lines!
TROPICBIRD ON ST CLEMENT’S ISLAND, MOUSEHOLE
/0 Comments/in Birds, Uncategorised /by Vanessa ThomasSTOP PRESS!!
At around 4pm yesterday the Mermaid II cruised into the small bay on the lea-ward side of St Clement’s Island looking to show the 20 or so passengers on the 3pm “Seal Cove” trip the resident Grey Seal bull “Sammy”. I have no idea if they saw him because Adrian and crew were amazed to see a large white bird with a long, pointed, slightly down-curved orange bill, and long white tail-streamers sitting above Sammy’s usual spot. It almost immediately took flight over the island. I would probably have heard no more about it had Adrian and Billy not already kindly sent me down-loaded photos of a Red-billed Tropicbird they claimed to have seen as a wind-up a week ago when I was stuck on the Scillonian III, the same day as a genuine bird had been seen from Porthgwarra! Remembering this however, Adrian immediately recognised this as the real thing, and they steamed around to the eastern side of the island hoping it had landed again. There was some confusion as an orange-billed bird took off and was snapped by one of the passengers, but this was an Oystercatcher, and sadly it seems the initial sighting took everyone by surprise and the Tropicbird was already out over the bay! Readers may well wonder a) what all the fuss is about, and b) how on Earth we can be sure this is the same bird as that seen last week!? The answer is the same – this is an incredibly rare bird in British terms with only 3-4 previous records; Red-billed Tropicbird breeds all around the tropics with the nearest to us in the Cape Verdes or Caribbean. As there have been virtually nothing but north-north-easterly winds since the Porthgwarra sighting it is highly unlikely a second bird has arrived! And how do I know this is a definite second sighting? Because I am sitting writing this in North- blooming – Oxfordshire – that’s why!! Today’s 3pm trip was the first wild-life trip I have not been able to do since the tropicbird sighting a week last Friday, and if readers are wondering what that distant crunching noise is it is the sound of me grinding my teeth down to the gum-line!! Of course- I am really pleased for all the lucky folks on the trip (AM I HELL!!!), and I hope the bird is seen again, as the Mermaid II is probably the best place to start! Here’s hoping!
Disgruntled of Banbury/ Martin Elliott
Photo:http://uniquewildlife.blogspot.com/2011/03/tropicbirds.html