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A swell time 😉 NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 19/07/19
Friday’s 4hr evening pelagic headed out of the Tyne piers into a stiff breeze and long rolling swell… Kittiwakes and Fulmars circled the boat, Gannets soared by, Manx Shearwaters rose out of the troughs and up over wave crests before vanishing back behind the swell, Puffins , Guillemots and Razorbills sat on the water before…
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St Mary’s sunset; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 05/07/19
Friday’s 4hr pelagic demonstrated just how quickly things can change with our marine wildlife. A few Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills, Gannets and small flocks of Manx Shearwaters and a bigger flock of Common Scoter were far fewer birds than on our previous sailings and the echo finder showed that there was very little in the way…
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Here come the White-beaks 🙂 NEWT’s North Sea pelagic 11/07/18
Wednesday was our 5th evening pelagic this year and after Bottlenose Dolphins putting in a good shift on our 2nd sailing, followed by a coupe of stunning sunsets last week, the question on everyone’s lips was “Will England make it to the World Cup final?”… A few scattered whitecaps and a bit of swell, combined…
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Dolphin days; NEWT’s Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic 26/08/17
With a forecast of light westerlies and good weather, I arrived at Royal Quays ahead of our 10hr Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic confident that we’d have a memorable day offshore… Gannet, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill, Puffin, Manx Shearwater, Great Skua and Arctic Skua all gave obliging views and then we started finding Minke Whales 🙂 Continuing…
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Dolphins; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 14/07/17
As Martin drove down the coast towards Royal Quays on Friday the sea looked flat and peaceful…an hour later and it was starting to get choppy on a stiff westerly that had sprung from nowhere, but we were still confident that this would be the trip where we started finding White-beaked Dolphins, and that confidence…
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Whale(less) but definitely a dolphin cruise 🙂 NEWT’s North Sea pelagic 27/08/16
Yesterday was our annual Whale and Dolphin Cruise from Seahouses and, after Manx Shearwater, Gannet, Fulmar, Puffin and Guillemot, the marine mammals put in an appearance. Harbour Porpoises were typically brief and shy, but the White-beaked Dolphins drew plenty of ooohs and ahhhs from everyone on the boat 🙂 We’ve got very limited places available…
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Sunset spectacular; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 29/07/16
If there’s anything that’s even less predictable than wildlife on our 4hr evening pelagics, it’s the weather/sky/sea state. One minute it can be flat calm, the next there’s a rolling swell, one minute it’s overcast, the next the clouds disperse and the sun breaks through… Our 9th evening pelagic for 2016 set sail on Friday…
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Whistling; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 11/07/16
Monday was our 5th evening pelagic and we boarded JFK Two at Royal Quays with Common Terns flying back to their nests and a chilly breeze stiffening the flags on the boats moored in the marina. Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls soon formed a stalking party just behind us and Gannet, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill, Puffin,…
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Seawatching; Druridge Bay mini-safari 16/07/2015
Thursday’s second mini-safari was around NEWT’s local patch of Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland. I arrived at Church Point to collect Mike, and we started with a scan of the sea in search of White-beaked Dolphin. It was a bit on the choppy side for observing cetaceans, but there was an obvious movement of seabirds…