Arrival and boarding at Newhaven was still in darkness at this time of year, but with the solstice long past, the day broke as we set sail and we could join the bridge of the Seven Sisters shortly after leaving harbour. The sky was still murky at this point, but the southerly breeze was light and the sea calm and the visibility very good.

Aside from some accompanying Herring Gull, we were treated to a close in sighting of a Red-throated Diver and a Guillemot rushing to evade the ship. The conditions meant there were good counts on the water; numbers of Great Black-backed Gull rose, and Kittiwake were in evidence as we progressed. The Gannet sightings were as reliable as usual, and we were pleased to see a small flock of Common Scoter cross the bow. Other highlights of the outbound trip were five Common Dolphin and a bottling Grey Seal. On approaching Dieppe, the sun came out fully and a line of twenty six Shag overtook us and some Common Gull saw us in.

We took advantage of the early spring sunshine and a pastry on the beach and hoped for as good a survey on the return, and in fact we were not disappointed. We had barely got set up before we heard the crew shout “dolphin” and over the next hour we had sight of over sixty Common Dolphin and three Harbour Porpoise and two more bottling Grey Seal. With the sun behind us and the sea state barely 1 we also had good views of bird life with large rafts of auk probably the highlight, plenty of Gannet and the majority of other sightings being gulls of one kind or another. Twilight put paid to any more surveying an hour and a half from Newhaven, so we packed up and reflected on a very successful trip.

Our thanks to DFDS, the Captain, his officers and crew for their warm welcome and assistance in ensuring an enjoyable survey.

Deborah & Alistair McKail

Weather:

Outbound: wind S force 2, visibility very good, full cloud cover initially, clearing fully, no glare to start significant glare by the close, sea state 1-2

Return: wind S force 1-2, visibility excellent, no cloud cover increasing to full, sea state 1