Offshore Magic

Three days offshore, guiding for Yorkshire Coast Nature over last weekend was brilliant. Every day is different, with birds on the move and varying sea conditions influencing our encounters with whales and dolphins. Bird-wise it has been pretty quiet, with an extended period of westerly wind, with an adult Long-tailed Skua and a leucistic Razorbill the pick, with only small numbers of Sooty and Manx Shearwaters, Arctic Skuas (pic below), Little, Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls evident. Pink-footed Geese were prominent yesterday as north-westerly winds further north encouraged a departure from Iceland.

Up to 15 Minke Whales were seen daily, even in rough weather, with close views exciting everybody on deck. We didn't find any feeding frenzies this year, but there were Herring present, including some spawning shoals, but they were deep, reducing their availability to birds. c2,000 Grey Seals were an incredible sight, mostly loafing at low tide on the point near Runswick Bay. It's about time we had some Orcas down here!

Minke Whales off Staithes

 

Yesterday, we bumped into a pod of ten Bottlenose Dolphins, which included three females with calves, one of which was from this year, and two adults that 'stood off' the main group, presumably young males. We watched them briefly before leaving them alone. Three Harbour Porpoises were seen off Boulby including a female with a calf, which was good to see, as they seem to have been scarce recently.

Bottlenose Dolphins

 

Best of all, a Thresher Shark, which breached a couple of times off Flamborough Head on Sunday morning. It was massive, with a tail fin as long as it's body!