On Saturday 16th April 2011,
MARINElife surveyors conducted a dedicated photo-identification
survey in Lyme Bay, up to 30 miles south of West
Bay and west towards Dartmouth.
Highlights included 30 Common Dolphin, 1 Balearic
Shearwater, 465 Manx Shearwater, 25 Puffin, 1 Great Skua, 4 Great
Northern Diver, 1532 Guillemot, 125 Razorbill, 296 Gannet, 3 Common
Tern and 158 Kittiwake.
All sightings were recorded by Tom Brereton,
Adrian Shephard, Rick Morris & Russell Wynn onboard
Huntress II.
A number of images were taken of the dolphins
encountered with the aim of starting a photo-identification
catalogue for Common Dolphin to complement the catalogues of
Bottlenose Dolphins and White-beaked Dolphins which have already
started.
Video footage of the encounter with the Common
Dolphins can be viewed here.
A number of Manx Shearwaters were encountered, mainly resting on
the sea during the almost wind-free day. In one of the groups, a
single Balearic Shearwater was encountered, a globally threatened
species which is being monitored by MARINElife.
