Archives: Survey Reports
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MARINElife Survey Report: DFDS ‘Dunkerque Seaways’ Dover-Dunkirk 26 September 2026
It was a bright, sunny day as I drove down to Dover to board the Dunkerque Seaways, although there was a slight haze on the horizon obscuring the French coast. On joining the Dunkerque Seaways I was welcomed by Captain Jason Mills and went to the bridge to prepare for the survey. On leaving the…
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MARINElife VSAS survey report: MV Scillonian III Penzance-St Mary’s 19 September 2026
We arrived in Penzance after navigating overnight road closures and a short stay in Liskeard to a grey and damp morning. Fortunately, the rain had stopped and boarded the Scillonian III quickly and smoothly. As the ship made its way out of harbour and we were waiting for the Purser to show us up to…
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DFDS Newcastle to Amsterdam 14-16 September 2026
Stepping aboard the Princess Seaways we were warmly welcomed by the crew and guided to our cabins where we finished essential preparations, ordering all the paperwork, checking camera batteries, and a final clean of binocular lenses, whilst waiting to get underway. As soon as the ship had cleared Tynemouth the wonderfully helpful Ilse, the ship’s…
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MARINElife survey report: Dover-Calais 12 September 2026
It was sunny and dry in the morning as I drove down to Dover. The summer holidays being over, the journey to the port was straightforward. I boarded the ship and was immediately taken to the bridge to set up for my survey. The cruise ship Viking Vela was at the cruise terminal waiting to…
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MARINElife VSAS survey report: Newhaven-Dieppe 12 September 2026
A summer timetable sailing from Newhaven meant we could take advantage of a more leisurely start, and after a smooth check-in and boarding we observed acollection of out-of-survey birds as the Seven Sisters made her way out ofport, including noisy Black-headed Gull, a Great Cormorant and severalfishing Sandwich Tern. After clearing the port we took…
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MARINElife survey report: MS Oldenburg Bideford-Lundy 12 September 2026
I travelled down to Bideford from the Midlands to help carry out this month’s survey aboard the MS Oldenburg, wondering if the trip would go ahead: the forecast was for a brisk south westerly breeze and maybe some rain later. The Oldenburg is made of stern stuff however, and in fact the conditions were moderate,…
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MARINElife Wildlife Ambassador report: MS Oldenburg Bideford-Lundy 12 September 2026
some of the passengers along with myself were treated to three Common Dolphin riding the wake from the ship
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CLdN Heysham to Dublin 8 September 2026
We managed to board the CLdN vessel ‘Power’ by about 01:00 early Tuesday morning in torrential rain and strong winds but we were on the bridge by 06:30 to begin the survey. It was just about bright enough to begin the survey, but the flat light made it difficult to discern some identification features of…
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MARINElife Survey Report: DFDS ‘Suecia Seaways’ Felixstowe-Vlaardingen 8 September 2026
I drove down to Felixstowe Monday evening, had my booking processed and was taken to the ship to bed down for the survey the following morning. I woke up to leaden skies, with patches of fog and rain reducing visibility at times. It took just over an hour to record my first bird of the…
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MARINElife survey report: DFDS Levante Jet Poole-Jersey 5 September 2026
a feeding frenzy, as both huge Blue-fin Tuna and a couple of Common Dolphin breached in the foaming seas