Today was my last day of the pelagic season, guiding for Yorkshire Coast Nature. We had a great day out of Staithes, aboard the All My Sons, expertly skippered by Sean Baxter. We had a great encounter with a very playful pod of Bottlenose Dolphins, who stayed around us as we drifted on the tide for a good half an hour. Two immatures were very acrobatic, with synchronised high leaps, which would have made Tom Daley proud! No calves were present and the group of c10 was split into three or four small groups, which came together before separating. They were a real joy to watch in the morning sunshine off Huntcliff.
With big smiles all round, we headed out across the tide to the 6 mile line to see if there were any seabirds around. No big feeding frenzies were spotted, so after our traditional mocha and lemon drizzle, I donned the gloves and started chumming off the stern. Out of nowhere, a couple of Great Black-backed Gull appeared, closely followed by a pair of Fulmars. A dark shape appeared too, and the shout went up for Great Skua. The bird proceeded to hassle the gulls, at one point literally landing on the back of a flying GBBG and forcing it into the water. After some great fly-pasts, it cruised off and landed at a distance. Shortly, a Sooty Shearwater came in, and gave us a good view in the low sun. Sadly, I was by this point covered in fish guts, so no pics of any of these birds I'm afraid.
A friend of Sean's alerted him to a Minke Whale off Staithes, so we headed back in to look for that. We soon found the leviathan, but it proved elusive and we only got a few brief looks before it vanished. A little while later, we saw another, but again only briefly. The Herring seemed dispersed and perhaps the Minkes are having to move around to search for them making them difficult to track. Nevertheless, everybody on board got a view, which was great. A few birds added themselves to the list, including a late Puffin, a smart adult Little Gull with a flock of Kittiwakes, and three Grey Plovers, which may be the first I have seen on these trips. So, with that, we headed back to Staithes, under glorious blue Yorkshire skies.
It has been a great season, with Minkes on all the trips I have done, but in lower numbers than in recent years. The Herring have been a bit sporadic and we've not encountered many big feeding frenzies. My highlights are always the dolphins, but this year the unexpected Cory's Shearwater was a special moment.
Big thanks to Sean for great skippering and many laughs, to Simon, Stuart and Andy for their company as volunteer cetacean surveyors, all the clients that make this possible, and to Rich for hiring me to do this in the first place! Roll on next year!
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