MARINElife Surveyors' Blog: Brittany Ferries
'Armorique'
Plymouth to Roscoff survey 22nd to 23rd
March 2011
Our overnight crossing southbound was very smooth. In the
morning there was not quite enough daylight to set about our formal
observations, but we did see an excellent Channel sunrise before
docking.
Roscoff is a delightful little port and town, with a harbour shared by pleasure boats, and some impressive deep water crab and tuna boats. We had an excellent breakfast in a harbour cafe, and could take some close up photos of the harbour birds. We also had a chance to see the market and buy a string of traditional Breton onions before rejoining the boat.
Departure was prompt, and after leaving the harbour we were welcomed by the very helpful crew to the 'passerelle' or 'timonerie' - I am never sure which is the correct word for the bridge.
Immediately we were in the middle of birds, amongst them some dainty Little Gulls and Kittiwakes. Thereafter the trip was punctuated with views of seabirds, many of them like Gannets, Fulmars, Puffins and other auks returning to their breeding grounds.
The cetacean watching was a little frustrating, as despite good light conditions there was a persistent force 4-5 NE wind which ruffled the water to a degree which made viewing difficult, particularly of small cetaceans like harbour porpoises which we know can frequently be seen on this route, but whose size and undemonstrative behaviour make them difficult to spot unless the sea is calmer.
We were eventually rewarded with excellent views of two groups of three common dolphins which came into the bows of the ship, energetically leaping and turning to bow ride.
Once again thanks to the staff and crew of the Armorique who made this a very enjoyable crossing.
Michael Bamford and Richard Price, Research Surveyors for MARINElife (Registered Charity No. 1110884)
For a full summary of the species seen during this survey please visit our Plymouth-Roscoff sightings page.