Day 13 sightings: 16th July 2016
We
hit the mother-load today along our survey tracklines to the west of the
Blasket islands, Co. Kerry!
The day started with a group of 15
long-finned pilot whales on the eastern edge of the Porcupine Seabight some
70km NW of the Blaskets. This was soon followed up by a sighting of a blow from
a large baleen whale.
Long-finned pilot whales (c) Niall T. Keogh
As we approached the Blasket islands from the west we started picking up quite a few groups of common dolphins, a Cory's shearwater and a great shearwater.
Cory's shearwater (c) Niall T. Keogh
As
we got to within 15km southwest of the Blaskets we entered a period of crazy
cetacean and seabird feeding activity which lasted over an hour and included 11
minke whales, c250 common dolphins, c40 bottlenose dolphins, 2 harbour
porpoises, several Atlantic grey seals and thousands of European storm-petrels,
Manx shearwaters, puffins and guillemots along with a few sooty shearwaters,
great skuas and a pomarine skua thrown in for good measure.
We
didn't know which way to look!
Minke whale surfacing sequence (c) John Power
Common dolphin (c) Mick Marrinan
Atlantic grey seal (c) John Collins
Manx shearwater (c) Niall T. Keogh
European storm-petrel (c) John Power
Unfortunately
the weather sorted that out for us soon after and the visibility reduced to
less than 100m. We couldn’t see the Skelligs even though we passed right by
them!
An Tiaracht shrouded by misty cloud (c) Niall T. Keogh
One
of our marine mammal observers on the ship, Sean O’Callaghan (GMIT), hails from
The Kingdom and gives us a local’s perspective on the event:
“The Blaskets were brimming
with marine life yesterday afternoon when the Celtic Explorer headed East by
Inishvickillane before turning off into thick mist along the Southern side of
the outer bay.
It was the calmest
conditions I've ever been out there in and shortly after passing the Foze rocks
the seabird life began to increase in numbers with hundreds of European
storm-petrels zipping around, revealing the presence of a bait ball along with
the common dolphins and single Minke whale feasting on
the fish!
Cetacean and seabird feeding frenzy: minke whale (centre) flanked by Manx shearwaters and common dolphins (c) John Power
Puffins began to appear in
large rafts bobbing on the surface the further east the Explorer cruised. Some
harbour porpoises (the ninth species for this survey) briefly appeared before
disappearing again.
Adult and juvenile puffins (c) Niall T. Keogh
Puffin escaping from the ships track! (c) John Collins
Juvenile and adult guillemot (c) Niall T. Keogh
Common Dolphins and minke
whales consistently kept appearing in increasing numbers for a time off
Inishvickillane but the appearance of some 40 bottlenose Dolphins was the
highlight for me.
They surfaced slowly
ambling towards the ship for a time but turned around 300m away where one of
the Dolphins began to tail slap the water. After looking at some of my dodgy
photos of these Dolphins, there was at least one calf present.
Bottlenose dolphins (c) Niall T. Keogh
Bottlenose dolphins (c) John Power
When the Explorer turned to head South West, the mist that had lifted during
the afternoon descended again where you wouldn't see anything unless the
animals came to you as the case was when two bunches of Dolphins appeared
briefly later that evening.
Unfortunately the two
humpbacks that were in the area the previous day weren't encountered but in my
biased view, it's been the best day so far on this survey!”
Gulls resting on the bow of RV Celtic Explorer (c) John Power
Great black-backed gull (left) and lesser black-backed gulls (right) (c) Niall T. Keogh
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