I had a good feeling about this survey even as I travelled up to Newcastle. There had been good reports of whales and dolphins in the North Sea recently and it is that time of year when birds are on the move and all sorts of rare species had been spotted moving to the North-East coast on the first stage of their migrations. It all boded well, and we were not to be disappointed.
For Jon and me, it was our first time on this relatively new survey route and soon after boarding we found the right people to speak with to confirm arrangements for access to the bridge, and we were soon escorted to the bridge to get the first survey leg under way by friendly and enthusiastic staff who wanted to know all about the aims of our survey. This first leg was from 5:30pm until dark and it was to be an excellent start to the trip.
Even as we were setting up for the survey, the sightings started immediately with a Fulmar, an Oystercatcher, and numerous Gannet within the time it took to write down the initial position and course data. A couple of minutes after that our first dolphins appeared, the first of many. Whilst the first dolphins were too fleeting to confirm the identification, over the first evening survey we spotted Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin, White-beaked Dolphin, and a Grey Seal. We also spotted four whales, and although these sightings did not lend themselves to confirmed identifications, recording four whales in that short evening session was remarkable.
We were also delighted with the bird sightings. There were many more Gannet, Guillemot, and Kittiwake, together with a number of Great Black-backed Gull. Best of all though, we had the amazing sight of a flock of approximately 50 Manx Shearwater circling to feed. We only stopped the survey when the sun had set and the light was fading and reluctantly had to call it a day, tired but delighted with all we had seen.
The next morning, activity on the bridge meant that we moved our survey spot to the outside on deck 9. With a strong breeze this gave some challenges in recording the data, but we got stuck in at dawn for our morning survey, and our efforts were soon rewarded with many more bird and dolphin sightings. The dolphins that morning included further White-beaked Dolphin, and it was very exciting to see this less common species.
The highlight of the bird sightings was a flock of 29 Common Scoter flying by. These sea ducks are not often seen on inland waters and can be tricky to see from the coast as they are normally a fair way out. However, it is easier to see them from a ship and they made an impressive sight with their distinctive bills and the jet-black plumage of the males as they zoomed across our bow.
As we approached the harbour at Ijmuiden, we stopped the official survey but kept our eyes open and we were delighted when Jon spotted a Kestrel hovering over the sand dunes just before we docked.
Having arrived at Ijmuiden, we had a few hours to ourselves before the return trip and a choice had to be made between the shuttle bus to Amsterdam or a walk to the sand dunes nearby. We both opted for the walk to the sand dunes. The walk worked up an appetite and we had a relaxing and enjoyable lunch at a restaurant on the beach itself before heading back to the ship.
After leaving Ijmuiden for the evening leg of the journey home, the sightings were much quieter, and part of the survey was undertaken from an outside deck. Whilst out on deck, it was a delight to meet Eilidh, an ocean conservationist working with another charity ORCA, who was sharing all sorts of fascinating facts and sightings with the passengers, many of whom also had questions for Jon and me about our sightings and the work of MARINElife.
Once the captain had manoeuvred the ship outside of the busiest sea area off the Dutch coast, he was happy for us to resume the survey from the bridge which offers such a superb panoramic view. Nonetheless, this was the quietest leg of the survey with far fewer birds and cetaceans than we had seen in the morning. Still, there was one distant whale spotted and a variety of birds, but not in such great numbers as earlier.
The following morning, the third day of the survey, we were on the bridge as soon as possible for the last leg and it was to be a remarkable leg too. We were over the moon to have several whale sightings and were able to confirm several of them to be Minke Whale, one of which swam right through an area of feeding Bottlenose Dolphin and Gannet, some of which were seen diving into the sea hunting for fish. In the middle of all this, we were surprised by a pair of Mute Swan, several miles of the coast!
However, perhaps the most exciting birds were two Sooty Shearwater which overtook the ship quite closely and gave us both the best sighting either of us had ever seen of this less common bird! The elegance of shearwaters at sea is always a pleasure to see and the joy of seeing them so close meant we both chose to enjoy the moment rather than reach for a camera.
Overall, it was a quite remarkable trip, with so many birds and cetaceans that it was at times hard to keep up with all the recording, and I must thank my colleague Jon Steele who is an incredibly good spotter and who somehow spots whales and dolphins that many would miss. To have 35 separate sightings of whales and dolphin pods in a single trip was both exceptional and very enjoyable indeed.
Once again, our thanks go to the captain and crew of the Princess Seaways, and all at DFDS in Newcastle, who assisted us with this remarkable survey.
Jon Steele and Don Ainsworth, Research Surveyors for MARINElife (Registered Charity No. 1110884; Registered Company No. 5057367)
Weather
The weather was quite variable with initial thick mist. Generally, overcast through the trip with occasional light rain. However, sea conditions were very smooth, mainly sea state 2 with very little swell.
Summary of sightings
Marine Mammals
Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus 23
Common Dolphin Delphinus delphis 8
White-beaked dolphin Lagenorhynchus albirostris 10
Minke Whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata 3
Grey Seal Halichoerus grypus 1
Unidentified Cetacean sp. 3
Unidentified Dolphin sp. 34
Unidentified Whale sp. 6
Seabirds
Common Scoter Melanitta nigra 29
Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis 35
Sooty Shearwater Ardenna griseus 4
Great Shearwater Ardenna gravis 2
Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus 60
Shearwater sp. 7
Gannet Morus bassanus 443
Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 9
Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla 21
Common Gull Larus canus 1
Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus 14
Herring Gull Larus argentatus 2
Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus 10
Gull sp. 1
Common Tern Sterna hirundo 4
Commic Tern Sterna hirundo/paradisaea 1
Guillemot Uria aalge 36
Razorbill Alca torda
Auk sp. 84
Terrestrial Birds at sea
Mute Swan Cygnus olor 2
Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus 25
Birds in Ijmuiden harbour
Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus
Carrion Crow Corvus corone
Feral Pigeon Columba livia f. domestica
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
Jackdaw Coloeus monedula
Kestrel Falco tinnunculus
Magpie Pica pica
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
Red-throated Diver Gavia stellata
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