Well, here we are on our final day of the first part of the survey. The sea state is now up to a six or seven; there is a mist, so visibility is less than 1km at times; and the swell has also built to two metres. Apart from that everything is A1.
The term A1 originated from the Lloyd’s register for shipping. The ‘A’ referred to the ships condition, A being the best. The ‘1’ referred to the ships equipment, 1 being the best.
We set sail around 08:00 along Transect 45 heading north into the gloom. As would be expected in these conditions we were mainly seeing Gannet. Some other notable birds spotted in the mist were a Great Skua and Sooty Shearwater. Around 11:30 we suddenly came out of the mist and we could now see to the horizon. The sea state and swell had not improved but at least we could now see further.
In the last hour of the transect we spotted a lone Balearic Shearwater and a few Great Shearwater, all we needed now was a Cory’s Shearwater for the full set for the day.
A couple of Common Dolphin came in for a quick bow ride and circuit of the ship. Near the end of the transect a solitary Risso’s Dolphin meandered passed the ship. The third sighting of Risso’s, more than last year. Here’s hoping they don’t pass me by on the second half of the survey.
We had a 40-minute break before we were onto the next transect – 25 – which would take us back to the UK not far from Land’s End. Conditions were now starting to improve, the sea state was down to a four and the swell down to a metre. We set off with more hope of spotting wildlife.
After about 20 minutes some Gannet were seen feeding up ahead of the ship. As we approached there were not only Gannet but also a large number of Great Shearwater and a few Cory’s Shearwater. This completed our full set of shearwaters for the day. Also, in the melee another Balearic Shearwater was spotted.
The rest of the transect was dominated by Gannet crossing the path of the ship, and there were lots of them. Never in large numbers as earlier but they kept on coming. There were also sightings of more Sooty, Great and Cory’s Shearwater. A single Little Gull also passed on the port side and into the glare behind the ship.
We completed the transect just before 18:30 in quite gloomy light. We had started the day at 08:00 and we had observed for 10½ hours with a 40-minute break, I’m so tired. OK, OK, we did have some other short breaks in that time but it’s not so dramatic if I mention them. We then headed off east to get to Fowey ready for the pilot in the morning for the mid-survey break. Hoping there is Savoy Truffle and Wild Honey Pie for dinner.
It’s been an interesting first part of the survey. We have seen more whales than the previous year but the counts of many species are lower than over the same transects last year. The weather has generally been better once storm Amy passed. During some of the quiet times the conversation on the bridge covered some interesting subjects. One of these, about a fruit fly that had been resident on the bridge all survey, produce the quote of the trip so far. Apparently seen in a toilet in the Glasgow Reading rooms:
“Time flies like the wind, Fruit flies like bananas.”
On that note I will sign off and hand you back to your normal Peltic correspondent, Peter Howlett, who joins the survey tomorrow. Good night and thanks for all the fish.
So, what did we learn today:
- Fruit flies make for interesting conversations
- Most conversations on the bridge, stay on the bridge. After all everybody’s got something to hide except for me and my monkey
Trip stats so far – we must have the stats:
3000 – the number of miles travelled between Falmouth and Fowey
22 – the number of transects run
100 – the number of hours spent surveying
4111 – the number Gannet logged – our most numerous seabird
705 – the most sightings of a single cetacean species – Common Dolphin
40 – the number of different bird species sighted
4 – the number of different cetacean species sighted
57 – the number of Balearic Shearwater sighted