It was an unseasonably warm morning when we arrived at Heysham Port and we were hopeful that this would provide us with ideal survey conditions. We were escorted through the port and onto Performance smoothly as always by the helpful CLdN staff, and once onboard we were greeted warmly by the steward, who provided us with a much-appreciated breakfast before escorting us up to the bridge to begin our survey.
It was a very sunny morning, so the resultant glare to the south did not make for the most ideal survey conditions, yet we were initially treated to many Kittiwake, Guillemot, and Razorbill sightings. However, as we sailed further from the English coast, bird numbers seemed to drop away, and we were surveying a lot of nothing!
Kittiwake Archive Photo: Peter Howlett
As we drew level with the Isle of Man we were hoping for more excitement, and for Jon that came in the form of a dolphin sighting. Unfortunately, they surfaced so briefly that Vicki was unable to spot them and identification to species level was not possible. Soon after though, seven Common Dolphin were sighted by both surveyors and this time they hung around just long enough for us to identify them properly. But for the cetaceans on this crossing, brief was the word of the day. We saw another pod of dolphins that did not hang around long enough for us to identify, and Jon spotted a Bottlenose Dolphin that was gone before you knew it!
After a pleasant night’s stay at The Whistledown Hotel in Warrenpoint we were back at the port and soon aboard Progress. No need for a breakfast onboard this morning after a hearty Irish breakfast at the hotel, and we were soon allowed access to the bridge where everyone was extremely kind and welcoming. The morning glare on the sea meant that we had to abandon our usual starboard side surveying and relocate to the port side.
Many Gannet, Guillemot, and Razorbill sightings followed and soon they were joined by Manx Shearwater. Most of the birds seemed to be having a lazy start to the day with many of them sighted resting on the water rather than on the wing. After lunch the weather became rather more difficult for surveying and with winds of up to 45 knots, we were unable to see much wildlife at all and thought the likelihood of us seeing any cetaceans was very limited. However, we were lucky enough that a small pod of Common Dolphin passed right in front of the ship and surfaced just long enough for a clear identification.
Common Dolphin Archive photo: Rick Morris
For the remainder of the crossing the weather remained somewhat rough with a swell of up to 3m, so we knew we were probably missing anything that may have been out there. We did still see some lovely Gannet passing by, and being able to view these beautiful birds soaring around the ship makes any trip worthwhile.
Once again, our thanks go to the CLdN staff and crew of Performance and Progress who made these two very enjoyable crossings.
Jon Steele and Vicki Payne, Research Surveyors for MARINElife (Registered Charity No. 1110884; Registered Company No. 5057367)
Summary of Weather and Species Recorded
Weather
Heysham-Warrenpoint = largely sunny skies with south-westerly winds, between 20 – 30 knots.
Warrenpoint – Heysham = largely overcast with westerly winds, between about 30-45 knots.
Species recorded
Marine mammals
- Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus 1
- Common Dolphin (Short-beaked) Delphinus delphis 10
- Grey Seal Halichoerus grypus 2
- Harbour Porpoise Phocoena phocoena 1
- Unidentified Dolphin sp. 4
- Unidentified Seal sp. 1
Seabirds
- Auk sp. Alcidae 398
- Common Gull Larus canus 2
- Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 3
- Diver sp. Gaviidae 2
- Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis 4
- Gannet Morus bassanus 155
- Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus 2
- Guillemot Uria aalge 242
- Gull sp. Laridae 5
- Herring Gull Larus argentatus 6
- Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla 265
- Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus 6
- Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus 162
- Razorbill Alca torda 34
- Red-throated Diver Gavia stellata 3
- Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis 22