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| Northern Gannet |
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I was pleased to be asked by
Naturetrek to lead a series of pelagic trips out of Falmouth with
AK Wildlife Cruises.They took place on 23rd & 24th September, 30th Sept & 1st October & 7th & 8th October. All 7-8 hour trips. A couple got called off due to stormy weather but the majority went ahead and were very successful.
Many of the larger Shearwaters that had been so prolific this summer had already passed through but we still managed to catch up with a few Greats, Sootys, Balearics & Manx.
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Great Shearwater
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Sooty Shearwater
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| Great Shearwater |
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| Great Shearwater |
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| Great Shearwater |
Common Dolphins were prolific as were Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna and all our guests had amazing views of these especially from the bows of AK's new catamaran which give unrestricted views of the dolphins "bow-riding".
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| Watching the Common Dolphins at the bows |
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| Common Dolphin |
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Common Dolphin
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| Common Dolphin |
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| Common Dolphins | |
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| Common Dolphin |
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| Common Dolphins |
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| Common Dolphins |
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| Common Dolphins |
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| Common Dolphin |
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| Common Dolphin |
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| Common Dolphin |
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| Common Dolphin |
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| Common Dolphin | | |
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| Atlantic Blue-fin Tuna |
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Here is a short video clip of the Common Dolphins bow-riding.
Harbour Porpoise also put on good shows which if you are familiar with them is unusual as they'll often dive never to be seen again!
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Harbour Porpoise
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Harbour Porpoise with calves
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Grey Seals
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A few Auks were off the south coast and we saw Razorbills, Guillemots and a couple of Puffins all in winter plumage.
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Winter plumage Guillemot
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| Winter plumage Puffin |
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| Winter plumage Razorbills |
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| Winter plumage Razorbill |
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| Winter plumage Puffin |
Mediterranean Gulls & Sandwich terns graced to coastal strip and Turnstones, Oystercatchers & a lone Purple Sandpiper were on the rocky shorelines. A few Kittiwakes and some marauding Skuas clashed farther out off the Manacles as we motored down off the Lizard.
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Purple Sandpiper
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Mediterranean Gull
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| Kittiwake |
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Arctic Skua
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Probably the most exciting bird for most of us was a Grey Phalarope that we spotted between 2 fishing boats followed by a second bird that posed nicely on the water near the boat as Captain Keith allowed us to drift in on it for guests to get great views of this tiny wader bobbing about in a huge ocean.
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Grey Phalarope
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| Grey Phalarope | |
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| Grey Phalarope and a Kittiwake |
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Northern Gannet
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| Northern Gannet | |
The middle and last weekends saw a big rise in the numbers of Portuguese Man O' War jelly fish with water surface temperatures at 18 degrees Celsius. On the final day, the 8th October we recorded 14 of them along with an Oceanic Sunfish, one of the largest I've seen in Cornish waters. All our guests had great views and the skipper drifted in to let it be seen on both sides of the vessel.
Apologies for the number of Man o' War photos but they were so fantastic to watch!
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| Portuguese Man O' War |
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| Portuguese Man O' War |
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| Portuguese Man O' War |
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| Portuguese Man O' War |
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Oceanic Sunfish
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| Oceanic Sunfish |
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| Oceanic Sunfish |
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| Oceanic Sunfish | |
Naturetrek have booked a lot more day trips out of Falmouth for 2024 so please go on their website for details...... https://www.naturetrek.co.uk/tours/falmouth-pelagic-day-trip
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