MARINElife Surveyors' Blog: Brittany Ferries
'Armorique'
Plymouth to Roscoff survey 1st May 2011
The return trip this month was completed in one day, so the survey was conducted both south and northbound.
As we cleared the Plymouth Breakwater on the southern leg, a sea state of 3 (gentle breeze with a few small white caps) and sea mist meant that conditions were not conducive to spotting our smallest cetacean - the Harbour Porpoise. However a prompt sighting of our largest fish, a splendid Basking Shark was one of the highlights of the survey. These harmless planktivorous filter feeders are summer visitors to our shores. This one had been in the immediate area for a few days requiring the bridge crew to keep a good look out. The moderate visibility continued for much of the southern and northern return legs of the trip so that cetaceans were able to keep a low profile i.e. none were recorded this time.
The seabird recording form soon had good numbers of Gannets, a few Fulmars, Guillemots and a single Puffin. A real highlight as a birdwatcher was a beautiful Black Tern in summer plumage. Occasional sightings of small groups of Swallows throughout the survey showed the spring migration still in progress.
A less welcome sighting was a couple of large floating bunches of balloons, blown out to sea where they become an entrapment hazard to seabirds and other marine animals. Many turtles for example are found to have stomachs full of plastic during post mortem examination.
Maggie Gamble, Research Surveyor for MARINElife (Registered Charity No. 1110884)
For a full summary of the species seen during this survey please visit our Plymouth-Roscoff sightings page.