Bay Blog

Sorry for the lack of updates last week.  Bay Explorer was out of the water for a few days last week having a clean up and inspection by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency ready for the summer holidays.

We went back in the water ready for trips on Wednesday evening and since them we have seen dolphins on every trip.  It must be my excellent cleaning job!  On Wednesday evening (23/6) at 18:00 we saw a pod of 6-8 in between Cardigan Island and Mwnt.  Then on Thursday (24/6) we say a similar sized pod on both our 17:15 & 18:30 trips in almost the same place.  Top Notch was part of the pods on both days.  Back out of Saturday evening at 18:30 and this time a slightly larger pod of around 12 to the east of Cardigan Island.  Again Top Notch was one of the pod with her calf starting to get braver and traveling further away from mum.  No trips on Sunday so back out Monday morning at 11:30 and this time we spotted some dolphins right by Mwnt and after watching for a while headed back towards Cardigan Island and were followed all the way.  In the end our time was up and we had to leave the dolphins behind just off the east of the island.

In addition, still plenty of Auks on the Island and although not that many, still a good number of seals around the island.

Posted by : Tony Barber - Tuesday, 29 June 2010

Our mysterious solitary dolphin was spotted on our 10:30 trip today, between Cardigan Island and Mwnt. After surfacing 2 or 3 times it disappeared. Thankfully all the passengers saw it this time. No photos but it does have a very pointy dorsal fin? I'll try to get a photo next time. Plenty on auks still on the island and a few
inquisitive seals around Cardigan Farm Park.

Posted by : Tony Barber - Friday, 18 June 2010

Sighted a large pod of around 15 dolphins at 13:45 in between Cardigan Island and Mwnt. They were pretty spread out until some discovered a shoal of fish and then they joined together and got very excited whilst feeding. I took a few photos on the iphone so will post them below. Apologies for the quality! Quite a few seals around cardigan island including one hauled out on a rock starting to be exposed by
the falling tide. Plenty of Auks still on the ledges.

Posted by : Tony Barber - Wednesday, 16 June 2010

Spot the Dolphin?

Back out with trips this afternoon/evening.  It was quite a lot windier than yesterday so not great weather for spotting the dolphins.  Plenty of bird activity on the Island still and also plenty of inquisitive seals around Cardigan Farm Park.  It was too rough on the 1st trip to get to Mwnt but had calmed down quite a bit for the 2nd so we went for it.  Just as we got to Mwnt I spotted 1 solitary dolphin fin approximately 20 yards away, however due to the rough conditions it was very difficult to see and only one of the passengers managed to see it.  I'm glad to say she was a 10 year old girl who wasn't too keen on the rough conditions, so maybe it was specially for her?  It surfaced 3-4 times and  then disappeared!

Posted by : Tony Barber - Thursday, 10 June 2010

Its been quieter now that the children have gone back to school, but I did manage to get out on the lifeboat on exercise this evening and get a great sighting of the Dolphins.  A pod of around 10 gave a great show right in the middle of the bay between Cardigan Island and Cemaes Head at approximately 7.15pm.  Sadly none of us took a camera :-(

Posted by : Tony Barber - Wednesday, 9 June 2010

A trip disembarking on Friday.

Another beautiful day and I'm glad to say after a disappointing day yesterday we saw dolphins on every trip today. "Top Notch", one of our regular female dolphins was between Cardigan Island and Mwnt for at least 3 hours with her calf. There were quite a few seals around Cardigan Island and by Cardigan Farm Park and Cardigan Island is still very busy with Auks. Also a Peregrine gave us a great show. All in all a very good day!

Posted by : Tony Barber - Saturday, 5 June 2010

Unfortunately despite similar weather and sea state to yesterday and pretty much the same timing of trips, we had no Dolphin or Porpoise sightings today. It just goes to show how they have a mind of their own! Thankfully the Auks aren't going anywhere yet and although fewer in number we still managed to find some seals around the Island.

Posted by : Tony Barber - Friday, 4 June 2010

Another great day for Dolphin sightings with our first sighting at 12:00. There was a pod of 6-8 just off Mwnt, 2 of which showed a lot of interest in us and swam alongside the boat crossing underneath us several times. The water was very clear and you got a great view of them swimming under the water before surfacing. The photo below is taken from my phone so you'll have to excuse the quality! The same pod stayed in the area for several hours making the passengers very happy on our next 2 trips. Sadly they disappeared for the rest of the days trips but there was still plenty to see including a good number of seals around Cardigan Farm Park.

We could get used to weather like this! Dolphins again on our 1st trip today, half way between Cardigan Island and Mwnt. Two mothers and calves, plus 3/4 others. They were with a group of 5/6 gannets circling and diving. That's the only time we saw them today, but we do know they were down at Mwnt again around 5:30 and off Cardigan Island around 7:00. Quite a few seals around Cardgan Farm Park and still plenty of Auks on the island.

Posted by : Tony Barber - Wednesday, 2 June 2010

Thankfully the rain stopped before our first trip today. It's very quiet at Cemaes Head, with only 1 seal spotted! So instead we went to find some by Cardigan Farm Park where 6-7 came to see us. No dolphins today but we did see 4 porpoise just off Cardigan Island.

Posted by : Tony Barber - Tuesday, 1 June 2010