Two more YCN pelagics off Staithes yesterday and it could not have been more different from the shearwater-fest of two weeks ago. Not a single shearwater seen and only one Arctic Skua. Richard's Fea's-type Petrel didn't reappear and we struggled for the first four hours in rough seas. Fortunately, the Bottlenose Dolphins we'd seen off the harbour before we embarked reappeared heading south off Skinningrove, and we spent our last hour as the sun came out and the wind dropped (=calming seas) drifting with these spectacular animals. At least two adults were identifiable from the nicks and scratches on their dorsal fins - more on that later - and it was great to see a young yearling calf and another three or four year old. Their paler grey skin and smaller size was distinctive next to the gun-metal grey adults. Sean always does a good job of getting ahead of the dolphins, cutting the engine and just quietly drifting with the tide; the dolphins come leisurely past, eyeing us with interest and not at all perturbed by us as we whooped and cheered from All My Sons.
A couple of fine juvenile Caspian Gulls accompanied us back to harbour, and on the second trip we bumped into the dolphins again. The sea had calmed by early evening, so we headed out to the two mile line, where most Minke action had been. Sure enough, we shortly found our only Minke Whale of the day, which seemed to be travelling and it soon vanished, but not before everyone got a look. Few birds were present, but Arctic and Common Terns passed by, briefly harried by a pale phase Arctic Skua, and I delighted in seeing seven Swifts over the sea, perhaps my last of the year. We headed back to Staithes in a glorious sunset, a glass of prosecco the only thing missing from another wonderful day offshore.
No comments:
Post a Comment