I drove down to Felixstowe to board the Suecia Seaways on Monday evening. The night was warm as many have been over the past fortnight. Within half an hour of arriving at Dooley Terminal I was on board the vessel and preparing to sleep before the early start the following morning – my alarm went off at 04:30!

The sun, directly ahead would make bird sightings challenging. The first hour surveying only resulted in 5 birds, Great and Lesser Black-backed Gull and a solitary Gannet. Nearing the coast more frequent sightings were recorded, a total of 33 birds that included Herring Gull and Sandwich Tern were counted. The ship then entered the Nieuwe Maas Waterweg, the river allowing vessels to reach Vlaardingen on the outskirts of Rotterdam.

The tide was high and the birds evident, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Herring Gull, Sandwich Tern and Greylag Geese, were resting on or near the riverbank. Half an hour into the river transect, the tinted marine solar blinds were lowered to reduce the heat entering the bridge and my inbound survey stopped.

The ship then left Vlaardingen just before 15:00, the river section was affected by wind and waves from a strong sea breeze resulting from the temperature difference between the hotter land mass and the North Sea. The viewing along the river was much improved on the return leg and I was able to survey for the hour that the vessel took to reach the North Sea. The river level was lower by now and many of the Mute Swan were now feeding at the river’s edge. The Greylag Geese juveniles, having grown since June’s survey, were now indistinguishable from their parents.

Entering the North Sea, the marine species of birds Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Gannet and Herring Gull were seen, their numbers dwindling as the coast was left behind.

With two weeks having elapsed since the summer solstice, daylight surveying hours could continue until 21:00, a total of 16 hours, four of which were spent in Vlaardingen. It wasn’t until 19:30 that my one and only marine mammal sighting was recorded, a lone Grey Seal bottling for about a minute before sinking below the waves.

As the sun lowered, I closed the survey, thanked the watch officer and left the bridge and descended to the passenger area to prepare for leaving the ship.

My thanks, as always, go to DFDS, Captain Kristian Christensen, his officers and crew for their warm welcome and co-operation, without which our surveys would not be possible.

Carol Farmer-Wright, Research Surveyor for MARINElife (Registered Charity No. 1110884; Registered Company No. 5057367)

Weather

Outbound: wind WSW-W force 4-5, good visibility but with glare

Return: wind inland NW-NNW force 5-7, at sea NNW veering SE 4-2, good visibility but with glare