The penultimate trip for 2026 of the Newcastle (North Shields) to Amsterdam (Ijmuiden) route was alas to be a solo trip for myself after the Senior Surveyor Jon Steel had sadly to withdraw at the last minute.

Like much of this summer, the day started brightly with the Sun high in a clear blue cloudless sky.   With the formalities of the passport checks out the way I boarded the King Seaways, where I received a warm welcome from the DFDS staff.  I was also welcomed by the resident ORCA Representative Kathleen, who was to provide a wealth of knowledge and some friendly competition and support.

Kathleen informed me that cetacean sightings had been thin on the ground and even large groups of feeding birds had been conspicuous by their absence during her time on board.  With that less than optimistic news ringing my ears I headed off to my cabin to prepare for the evening survey.

Our departure from Newcastle and opening leg of the journey was uneventful, with no cetaceans seen that evening and even bird numbers were on the low side, with Kittiwake and Gannet being the main protagonists with a couple of auks also spotted.  As Kathleen had said, there were no large flocks of feeding seabirds during this session, with my first encounter coming against a backdrop of a spectacular sunset!

North Sea sunset  –  Photo: Stephen Kay
The following morning, I had planned to get to the observation deck nice and early, but this was aborted as the deck was closed for its early cleaning.  Once it was open, Kathleen moved in and attracted quite a crowd for her early morning public spotting session, so I decided to retreat to the observation lounge to conduct my survey from there.

Again, seabird numbers were low but there was a notable increase in Great Black-backed Gull, while other large gull species were observed during this count alongside a small number of terns.  It was not until we were our approach to Ijmuiden that my one and only sighting of a cetacean occurred, with a Harbour Porpoise briefly being spotted making a hasty get away.  Later conversations with Kathleen confirmed that she had had three porpoise encounters around the same time from her viewpoint, while there had also been an unconfirmed sighting of a Minke Whale from a member of the public and a seal during that morning.

The layover in Ijmuiden was spent relaxing with a trip to a local bakery to enjoy a spot to eat before stretching my legs with a walk to the local beach to take in the sun before heading back to catch the ferry home.

Back onboard for the homeward journey and it was much of the same, with the large gull species dominating together with sightings of Cormorant, Gannet, and tern species that were added to the list.  Reports from Kathleen also indicated that there was no further cetacean activity till arriving in Newcastle when a small pod of three Bottlenose Dolphin were observed at the very bow of the ship, before they moved away to starboard.
Bottlenose Dolphin (Library photo: Peter Howlett)
I must end with a big thank you to the crew and especially Captain Andreas for a very warm welcome aboard and accommodating our surveys to be conducted from the bridge, and to DFDS for accommodating MARINElife in its survey program.

Stephen Kay, Research Surveyor for MARINElife (Registered Charity No. 1110884; Registered Company No. 5057367)