We arranged to meet in Portsmouth Ferry Terminal which happened to be full of cruise passengers disembarking their cruise ship. Departure was scheduled at the unusually late time of 10:30 but this still gave us sufficient daylight to arrive in Jersey just before sunset.
We were welcomed by the usual friendly staff on reception who issued our cabin keys and informed us that the captain would call us up to the bridge soon after departure. We were taken up to the bridge and met the captain and the pilot who was on board.
After exiting the harbour, the ship slowed down and manoeuvred into position to give the pilot a sheltered area to return to his pilot boat. As soon as we set course for Jersey, we began surveying. It was not until St. Catherine’s Lighthouse came into view that we recorded our first birds – flocks of Meadow Pipit and Swallow being pursued by a Kestrel.
It was a further hour and a half into our survey before we saw our first seabird, a Gannet! However, things did improve after that.
As we approached the strait between the Cherbourg Peninsular and Alderney, we experienced strong glare ahead, but a flat calm sea gave us hope for cetacean sightings. We weren’t to be disappointed we had steady sightings of Harbour Porpoise as we approached Sark with a group of eight feeding giving lovely close views. Manx and Balearic Shearwater became regular sightings too, although many just too far away to record.
Light was failing as we took on the Jersey pilot, so we thanked the captain and his very helpful officers and departed the bridge to enjoy our evening meal.
Steve Boswell and Jeremy Burgess, Research Surveyors for MARINElife (Registered Charity No. 1110884; Registered Company No. 5057367)
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Weather: wind SE 3, dropping as we neared the Channel Islands
Summary of sightings
Marine Mammals
Harbour Porpoise Phocoena phocoena 15
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Seabirds
Balearic Shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus 50
Gannet Morus bassanus 42
Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus 5
Guillemot Uria aalge 1
Herring Gull Larus argentatus 51
Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus 75
Mediterranean Gull Ichthyaetus melanocephalus 4
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis 4
Shag Gulosus aristotelis 8
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Terrestrial birds
House Martin Delichon urbicum 1
Kestrel Falco tinnunculus 1
Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis 23
Swallow Hirundo rustica 15
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