Sea Safari Trip Report 15 th -17 th August 2017

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1 Special Guest: TV Presenter and ORCA Patron - Nigel Marven ORCA Sea Safari Guides: Andy Gilbert, Richard Allcorn, Andy Osborn, Hazel Pittwood, Katrina Gillett, Tracy Guild, Emma Juxon, Marion Smith, Trudy Russell Credit: Mark Rees ORCA Guides with special guest - Nigel Marven This was the second trip of the year with special guest Nigel Marven. Sadly the last trip he was on in June was a bit of a bumpy ride, and with decks closed due to the bad weather we were pleased to see that this August trip was forecast blue skies and calm seas. With extremely experienced and knowledgeable guides and 90 whale and dolphin enthusiasts we were ready with anticipation as to what the Bay of Biscay had in store for us. Credit: Tracy Guild Nigel Marven giving his talk to ORCA Sea Safari passengers The evening started off with a short briefing out on deck as we left Portsmouth. As we passed the Naval dockyard we saw them preparing for the arrival of the Queen Elizabeth II aircraft carrier, which was due to arrive into Portsmouth the following morning. As we were having dinner we could see the aircraft carrier that was stationed off the south of the Isle of Wight. Following dinner our ORCA guide Andy Gilbert gave our guides a brief overview of what we were likely to see over the next few days, explaining how the bathymetry of the Bay influences the species that we see. This was then followed by a very informative and

2 interactive talk from our special guest Nigel Marven, best known for his TV series Prehistoric Park, about his travels and filming not just with cetaceans but with all marine life including swimming with gray whales, belugas and nautilus. The following morning we were up on deck at 5.30am eager for what the day had in store. The sea state was really good with no white water in sight and as the sun started to rise, it was clear we were in store for a nice day on deck. We hadn t even been up on deck for 10 minutes before there was a shout of sighting, as a pod of 15 or so common dolphins came breaching in towards the side of the ship. This was shortly followed by the sighting of a minke whale on the port side of the ship, its blow hole and fin clearly visible before it sank beneath the waves. We were at the top of the continental slope at this point, an area that divides the coastal zone on the continental shelf (200m in depth) from the deep pelagic zone (up to 4000m in depth). It is Credit: Edward Butler an area of nutrient rich upwelling currents Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) that cause a mass accumulation of cetaceans and a variety of species due to the high food availability here, particularly in summer months where the nutrients bloom in the warmer waters and higher levels of sunlight. Over the next two hours we had 32 sightings of dolphins with a total of 328 animals, plus two sightings of sunfish. The dolphins were a mix of two species bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins. They were putting on quite a show, and causing a lot of excitement and getting the blood rushing as we were all running from one side of the ship to the other! There was a lot of breaching activity and at times a flock of sea birds were a good indication of feeding activity as shearwaters, gannets and gull species were flying in a circle around the area or the gannets were diving providing a good indication that food was present. In these areas dolphins were seen under the birds, moving like a dart in the water and creating much splashing as they fed on fish. Sun fish (Mola mola) The sightings continued as we headed off the continental slope and into the deeper waters of the Bay. It was 08:30 when we had our first sighting of a whale blow about half way out to the horizon, before the sea suddenly became alive with whales. Over the next half hour we had 9 more Can you spot the blow?

3 sightings of whales, 4 of which we could correctly identify to fin whales, with the others we didn t see enough of the animal to identify it to species. These whale sightings were interspersed with common dolphins and as the morning progressed none of us knew which side to be on as there were shouts of sighting! continuously occurring from all sides. As we travelled further into the Bay we had a further 39 sightings before lunch of which Credit: Edward Butler Credit: Edward Butler Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). Can you see the mist left over from its blow? 20 were whales, the majority of which were fin whales and a few that were quite close to the ship giving us a great view of how they glide through the water and showing their blow, long sleek back, small dorsal fin in comparison to their size before sinking beneath the waves. At this time of year it is believed that fin whales are on a migration route through the Bay of Biscay, with August and September being the peak months for sightings of these majestic animals. It is not fully understood where they come from or where they go, but the continental slope within the Bay provides an excellent food source due to the nutrient rich upwelling s. We knew that this area was rich in food as not only were we seeing whales, dolphins and a variety of bird life but we were also seeing the fish themselves. Tuna were leaping out the water, looking almost like small dolphins. The distinctive characteristic that enabled us to determine that Tuna

4 they were fish was direction of the tail whereas cetaceans have horizontal tails, fish like tuna have vertical tails. As lunchtime arrived things started to quieten within the bay with sightings becoming less frequent as we were now in the deepest part of the bay. At 13:15 we knew that we were closing in on the deep sea canyons by Spain as we had our first sighting of Cuvier s beaked whales, 3 in total seen half way out to the horizon, including a male (noticeable by its lighter skin tone and scarring) with two females (darker in colour). Beaked whales are a rare sight in most parts of the world due to their elusive behaviour, and long dives for their food. The Bay of Biscay is one of the few places in the world where you can see beaked whales, such as Cuvier s beaked whale frequently, particularly on the southern and northern shelves where deep sea canyons are present. Tuna was becoming a frequent sight too with schools of tuna breaching out the water and causing a lot of commotion on the sea surface. This was followed by our first sighting of striped dolphins, a cousin to the common dolphin with their grey bodies and black stripes going from their eye to their tail stock and to their pectoral fins. We also saw a few rare melanistic common dolphins, a real treat! Melanism is a genetic condition that causes the darkening of the skin due to increased amounts of melanin in the skin tissue. Melanistic common dolphin By 14:00 the sea had calmed to a glorious sea state 1, the sun was shining and it was a gloriously warm and sunny day as we were on our approach over the canyons to Santander. Suddenly we had a shout of dolphins off the starboard side; they were about 900m (half way to the horizon) in a disturbed patch of water. Looking through binoculars there was much confusion as to whether the dolphins were Risso s dolphins or pilot whales. After looking through many people s photos it was believed that actually both Risso s dolphins and pilot whales were in the same pod and were feeding. These two species are known to group together in singular pods especially when feeding. This was a great sighting and brought our species numbers up to 7 species. Striped dolphin Half hour later and we had our second sighting of Cuvier s beaked whales, two in total close in on the port side showing their pale white faces and scarred bodies. These animals (particularly the males) are scarred due to them fighting with one another for territory and also for the attention of females. This sighting occurred right over the canyons and the calm waters gave us a great view of them. By 15:00 we were back over the shallow zone as we saw

5 Santander on the horizon throughout the last hour and half on deck we had a mix of common, striped and bottlenose dolphins as well as more tuna and a couple of ocean sunfish. All in all it was an amazing day in the Bay and we were thoroughly looking forward to the quiz tonight and to see what tomorrow has in store. Santander The following morning we awoke to a sea state 4 and a bit of a swell. We had just past the northern slope and were now in the shallow zone. This meant that the chance of seeing the larger whales had dramatically reduced but today was a chance to see more coastal species such as a variety of dolphins, harbour porpoises as well as minke whales. Our morning started off with common dolphins coming in towards the ship on both sides, for the first hour of the morning they just kept coming. At 07:00 we then had a minke whale close in to the ship, its small bushy blow visible against the very grey coloured sea and sky. Sadly by this point the rain had started coming down and the visibility started to reduce dramatically as we approached the Pointe du Raz on the coast of Brittany. Despite the fog we were still seeing common dolphins right up close to the ship. By 10:00 the fog had started to clear as we went through Ile Great Shearwater D ouessant off the north-west coast of Brittany. It was one of the occasions that the ship went close into the coastline and through the islands, an area renowned for its bottlenose and Risso s dolphins as well as its minke whales. We were in luck! Here we were sheltered from the wind and so the sea had completely calmed to a sea state 2. Suddenly someone shouted that they could see splashing close to the shoreline. On closer inspection through the binoculars these were identified as bottlenose dolphins. 10 animals were seen to begin with but as

6 we continued up the coast we saw more and more, very close to the shore travelling along the coast. We estimated there to be about animals in total. We also got some great views of sunfish which were clear to see in the calm water here. By the time we had passed through the islands the frequency of the sightings were dropping off. An hour after passing through the islands, as we were giving our debrief talk, we spotted a huge raft of birds both sat on water, flying and diving. It was such a large group of them that we could see them far off in front of the ship and we could keep watch for any cetacean activity. Once in line with the flock we could see Shearwater sp. fast moving fins within the mix of diving birds. On closer inspection we saw at least 6 harbour porpoise (the smallest cetacean species seen in European waters) having a feeding frenzy, their triangular shaped dorsal fins clearly distinguishable. There were so many birds here it was the largest gathering that many of the experienced guides had ever seen. Seeing the harbour porpoise s meant we had now seen an impressive 9 cetacean species in total on this sea safari. Our day ended with another two sightings of common dolphins right in the heart of the English Channel. By this point the rain had completely cleared and it was a pleasant day as we travelled towards our end point of Plymouth. Overall, it was an incredible trip with sightings galore. A big thank you goes out to Nigel Marven for his captivating talk about his adventures with marine life, as well as joining us out on deck throughout our trip sharing his experiences and talking to all passengers being particularly attentive to the children that joined us. Also a massive thank you to all the passengers that joined us on this sea safari I hope you had as much fun as us guides did.

7 Birds Seen Sandwich Tern Arctic Tern Manx Shearwater Balearic Shearwater Sooty Shearwater Great Shearwater Cory's Shearwater Shag Cormorant Northern Gannet Northern Fulmar Black headed Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull Great Black-backed Gull Herring Gull Yellow-legged Gull Whimbrel Common Scoter Guillemot Razorbill Great Skua Arctic Skua European Storm Petrel