We arrived late in the evening at a warm busy Felixstowe port to board the Suecia Seaways to catch some sleep before starting our survey the following day at around 05:00 after a light breakfast.

The DFDS crew welcomed us on board, showed us to our cabins and later led us along a maze of corridors and steps up to the serenity of the ships bridge. We were treated to a sunrise emerging from a bank of cloud.

Sea conditions in the North Sea were kind to us on our outward leg and despite the challenge of the glare from the sun, we observed a variety of gulls including Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls and some terns.  As we entered the mouth of the Nieuwe Mass Waterweg which leads inland to Vlaardingen (near Rotterdam), the head on glare intensified to a level where we decided it was best to focus our energies on the return leg survey a few hours later.

Our return survey began just after 15:00 as the Suecia Seaways manoeuvred into the busy waterway and started to navigate its way carefully downstream towards the Dutch coastline. For the next hour, we passed a concentration of bird life along the river including Mute Swan, Cormorant, Grey Heron, egrets, and various duck species.  As we approached open water we passed through a heavy shower, a novelty for those of us living in the current heat wave.

As we headed back to Felixstowe, the suns glare returned and wind picked up a force 7. Although no marine mammals made an appearance on either leg, we were visited by some wondering Gannets and Sandwich Terns.  Our survey ended with a sunset against picturesque clouds over the Suffolk coastline.

A big thank to the DFDS crew and shore-based staff for their support and making us feel most welcome aboard the Suecia Seaways.

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

Weather

Outward: wind S force 4-5, good visibility but with glare

Return: wind SW force 5-7, good visibility but with glare