A Cory's Shearwater was a shock encounter during the most recent MARINElife guided Naturetrek Pelagic trip out of Weymouth by James Phillips and Nigel Symes. Found at the entrance to the harbour, it surprised everyone onboard by giving stunning views and unparalleled photographic opportunities!
At 17:00 hours, just after leaving Weymouth Quay on board the
Mere Cat on a scheduled MARINElife guided Naturetrek
evening pelagic to look for seabirds off Portland Bill, James
and Nigel passed close to the entrance to Portland
Harbour.
©James Phillips/MARINElife
As they did, James picked up a Cory's Shearwater
Calonectris borealis coming in low from the south flying
towards the boat; the shearwater passed onto the right-hand side of
the bow and flew close down the starboard side of the boat and
continued towards Weymouth Bay.
©James Phillips/MARINElife
In a state of shock James quickly got the skipper to turn the
boat round and give chase! As they tracked the bird, it
suddenly turned round again and came back towards the boat. As it
came back towards them they started to frantically dice
mackeral at a rapid pace and began to drop it off the back of
the boat in the hope of attracting the bird in
closer. Remarkably, the bird responded by coming into the
back of the boat to feed on the scraps and plunged into the water
no more than five feet from the boat! It then lifted off
the water and continued to do a number of circuits of the boat,
each time dropping into the water close to the boat to successfully
grab at the mackeral scraps the amazed MARINElife
guides were putting over the side.
At 17:10 the Cory's Shearwater headed west away from the boat and
into Weymouth Bay, at which point it was lost from view.
All of the passengers got amazing views of this fabulous shearwater
and many got stunning photographs of the bird.
Click here to see the sightings total for
the trip.