Yesterday was my second day of leading Yorkshire Coast Nature seabird and whale pelagics this season. The sea was beautifully calm and mirror-like as we headed out from Staithes harbour at 6.30am. The excitement of another day offshore easily overcame the challenge of a 4.30am start and we glided out of the harbour full of anticipation. Very soon, the first Minke Whale broke the glassy surface, and we were off to a good start.
Large numbers of Gannets thronged the horizon, so we continued out to sea. Sooty Shearwaters cruised past rediculously low over the sea, having to flap a fair deal due to the lack of breeze.
After we past the three mile mark, sightings of Minke Whales came thick and fast. The gang on board were delighted, with the smell of cabbage wafting through the air as the Stinky Minkes cleared their lungs before taking a deep breath. As always, I had explained that we keep a close eye out for whale 'blows' as that could indicate a different species; Minkes do blow but the vapour cloud is quite indistinct and quickly disperses. Over the years we have seen the occasional individual with a more prominent blow, but this seems the exception. Shortly, one of the clients said to me he had seen a whale blow on the horizon. This sounded interesting, so I stared hard into the distance. Nothing stirred beyond the ever-present Minkes. But then, a whale rolled. I missed the blow but saw the arch of the back, and it just screamed Humpback. Surely not! I announced that there might be a Humpback out here, but then it vanished. I began to doubt what I'd seen and suggested I had maybe just seen a Minke at a funny angle. A few tense minutes later, and a large blow came up 100 metres to starboard, followed by the roll of a Humpback; I yelled 'Humpback Whale!', cue pandemonium as we all grabbed our cameras and dived to the rail. Thirty seconds later, and the whale surfaced again and to our utter delight raisd the characteristic flukes high into the air, before slipping vertically back into the sea. Astonishing!
OK, I have seen Humpback Whales quite a few times before, including off Flamborough Head, but I have always hoped to see one on a YCN pelagic. The Humpback was clearly feeding on the Herring, just like the Minkes, and slowly circled the area. Sean had cut the engine, and we gently drifted with the tide, watching this majestic whale with enormous grins on our faces. After about an hour, the whale, which we agreed was probably a juvenile, being similar in size to some of the bigger Minkes, decided to have a rest, and loafed on the surface, casually surfacing to breath every so often. After a few last pics, we left him of her in peace and continued our journey.
Whilst enjoying our last few sightings, our volunteer surveyor, Simon Ward mentioned he thought he had seen another Humpback a little further away. We all scanned in the required direction, but it didn't surface again. Amazingly, Simon was correct and his photos showed a second individual!
As we meandered back to Staithes, two rather smart Caspian Gulls joined the throng of Gannets and Fulmars in our wake, whilst our tally of Sooty Shearwaters had reached over 20, Manx Shearwaters similar, with at least six Great and only one Arctic Skuas.
Our tally of Minke Whales was at least 50, including a herd of over 25 which circled the boat as we first watched the Humpback. They had rather been eclipsed today, but we took time to appreciate our final sightings of these fantastic animals, all in the sight of Yorkshire cliffs.
...
Back out in the afternoon, we had another fantastic trip, with at least 20 Minke Whales, though our Humpback friends were nowhere to be seen. Hopefully they will stick around while the feeding is good and more people will get to enjoy them.
No comments:
Post a Comment