Humpback Whales on the Cornish coast 2025

 

Wow! What a day at sea we had today!

It was our regular seal and marine life survey with the Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust and it was common knowledge that there had been a few Humpback whales in the area so we ventured out with fingers crossed.

Well we picked up a Humpback about 2 miles offshore from Watergate bay north of Newquay and held off for a while as we captured some photos. 

All of my pictures were taken with a Nikon 500mm lens often from a great distance and at no time were the whales disturbed. Our boat & it's skipper Chris Lowe are WISE accredited and all aboard are very aware of the effects of disturbance.

Later in the day we came across a second whale off Polly Joke / Holywell Bay. This was a smaller individual and it showed its flukes rarely as it was in shallower water than the first one we'd seen.

Later in the day we picked up what is probably the first individual about a mile off of Watergate once again and this time it put on an amazing display of fluking, pectoral fin slapping and then breaching up to a dozen times.

By now the light was dropping fast and the quality of my images started to  worsen but the excitement generated aboard was electric and on arriving back in harbour there were still happy smiles on everyone's faces.

Many thanks to Chris and Annabelle Lowe of Newquay Sea Safari's and Fishing. 

Here are a selection of my photos from today just concentrating on the Humpbacks!

Firstly the Watergate Whale........

A couple of the "Polly Joke" individual.....

 

 

 

 

 

Cirl Buntings on the Cornish coast 30th March 2023.

 

Enjoyed some time watching Cirl Buntings feeding at a garden feeding station and also bathing in a large puddle at the side of the road.

These birds are Schedule 1 and whilst they aren't nesting yet I will keep the location to myself to keep disturbance to a minimum.

They were feeding alongside Yellowhammers, Greenfinch, Chaffinch & Goldfinch on mixed seeds.

I was particularly pleased to get some shots of an adult male bathing in good light.

For these interested the water shots were taken with a Nikon 500 f4 lens, Auto ISO which was 250, 1/2000 sec at f4. Exposure compensation was +2/3rds of a stop.

Female Cirl Bunting

More Common Dolphins today 24th January 2023.

 Another survey on the North Cornwall coast today and within 5 minutes of leaving harbour we were surrounded by common dolphins eager to spot humans in their oceanic domain.

Well into 200 animals came alongside or appeared in our view in the following hour and it was yet again an amazing sight.

Some of the students onboard had never seen a dolphin in the wild so it was quite an experience for them. I've now seen many thousands but they still excite me and I'm always trying to better the last picture.

Here are a few from today... it's our 4th consecutive day of surveys tomorrow so fingers crossed for more of the same!

Mother and calf

Common Dolphins off North Cornwall coast 23rd January 2023.

 

Probably well over 200 Common Dolphins off the coast today and in very enthusiastic mood, bow riding, leaping and generally putting on a show!

They came to us as we surveyed for seals down the coast from Newquay towards St.Ives and were a joy to watch. We'd previously seen a few Harbour Porpoise en-route but they are rarely showy and usually dive deep when a boat comes along but these were totally the opposite.

Yet on our return journey back to harbour we met a few smaller pods and they weren't interested in us and were just lolling around on the surface...maybe they'd just fed and were digesting!

Thanks to Cornwall Seal Group Research Trust and skipper Chris Lowe aboard Atlantic Diver.

Newquay sea safaris and fishing.

Anyway here are some photos to portray the scene!...... Often they were too close even for a wide-angle lens!