Pat and I met in Dover, completed the formalities at the port and waited to board the Dover Seaways. On boarding, we went to the information desk and were welcomed by Captain James Lloyd, who invited us to join him on the bridge.

On leaving the port, we began recording small numbers of Herring Gull, Kittiwake, Gannet and Great Black-backed Gull. All adults were now in their summer plumage. An inanimate sighting of note was the imposing view of the Queen Elizabeth sailing south in the channel.

As we neared the French Coast, mist reduced the visibility somewhat, but eventually the sun burned through. We were now able to see Sandwich and Common Terns, back from their winter haunts, flying out to the Flanders banks north of Dunkirk, returning with small fish in their beaks, a good sign that their breeding season was well underway.

The Flanders banks are submerged sandbanks running parallel to the coastline between Dunkirk and Calais. They are generally submerged less than five meters deep and separated by furrows ten to twenty meters deep.

Shortly afterwards. one of the bridge officers spotted a dolphin close to the vessel, unfortunately neither Pat nor I saw it.

It wasn’t long before we arrived at Dunkirk. Whilst there, Pat and I were able to receive a generous donation from James Lloyd on behalf of DFDS for MARINElife. We have worked with DFDS on several routes for many years now, their support being invaluable to our research efforts.

On leaving Dunkirk we again encountered several groups of terns travelling to and from the Flanders banks. A group of tern were feeding on the water and both Pat and I observed the trace of a sub-surface dorsal fin in the water, sadly the animal’s identity was hidden from us.

Shortly afterward I decided to have a rest break and joked to Pat that the Harbour Porpoises would now appear, sure enough, Pat recorded three porpoises in the next 15 minutes!

Before long we reached the English coast, packed up our survey equipment and returned to the passenger area to disembark the ship.

We would like to thank Captains James Lloyd and Adrian Sheaff, their officers and crew for making us so welcome during our survey. We would also like to thank the shore staff for their help and support in enabling us to survey on this very busy route.

Carol Farmer-Wright and Pat Hatch, Research Surveyors for MARINElife (Registered Charity No. 1110884; Registered Company No. 5057367)