Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

As we spend so much of our time on, or by, the sea it seemed poetic that as restrictions eased sufficiently to allow us to start running tours again, our first trip was a pelagic. The North Sea was at its ever-shifting best; lumpy swell and whitecaps eventually giving way to oily-smooth water reflecting the colours of the setting sun 🙂

Saturday was our first 10hr pelagic, after August 5th had weather that wasn’t great. White-beaked Dolphin put in an appearance early in the day, a Minke Whale was well to the ENE of Alnmouth and Harbour Porpoise were regular throughout the day. Amongst mist and rain we had some sublime conditions, extraordinary light and incredibly smooth water…

After a break of a few months we got back up and running in July, starting with our 4hr evening pelagics (and some 4hr daytime pelagics organised due to high demand!)

Here’s a gallery of images covering a few of the trips where we found dolphins. 10 trips in total – 5 found White-beaked Dolphin, 4 found Bottlenose Dolphin 🙂

Yesterday was the first of our 10hr ‘Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic’ sailings for this year and it started well with two Harbour Porpoises at the mouth of the Tyne, then another two a couple of miles further north.  As Gannets soared by, Fulmars circled us and Kittiwakes and Lesser Black-backed Gulls tagged along in our wake, two White-beaked Dolphins put in a brief appearance and the swell started to build.  By mid-afternoon we’d got heavy rain and then another 5 dolphins spent a couple of minutes bow-riding 🙂

Our August 29th, September 15th and September 22nd 10hr sailings each have two places still available so give us a call on 01670 827465 to book your place 🙂

Friday was our final 4hr evening pelagic for 2018 and so far we’d managed to run 12 out of 13 pelagics (with one cancelled due to poor weather conditions), with those 12 producing Bottlenose Dolphin on 2 trips and White-beaked Dolphin on 6.  Allan had been out with the boat during the day and, incredibly, they’d been followed back in to the river by a group of White-beaked Dolphins who’d made it as far as the first navigation buoy before turning and heading back to sea 🙂

We checked towards Whitburn first in case they were still hanging around nearby but there was no sign of them so we turned north and followed our usual search pattern.  This year we’ve been gathering effort data for the North East Cetacean Project/MARINElife on all of our pelagics so I’m usually in the wheelhouse and carrying out 180 degree scans ahead of the boat and as we passed St Mary’s Island and some impressive storms over Northumberland I spotted a distant fin.  Soon there were 12 White-beaked Dolphins feeding around us in small groups as the sky darkened and the first drops of rain began to patter against binoculars and cameras.

Our evening pelagics may be over for another year but our 10hr ‘Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic’ sailings start tomorrow, with a trip that’s been sold out for a while, and we’ve got a couple of spaces available on August 29th, September 15th and September 22nd so get in touch with us today on 01670 827465 to book your place before they’re all taken!

Wednesday was our penultimate 4hr evening pelagic for this year, and after a few splashes that we couldn’t pin down to anything specific we were heading back south as the sun dipped below the horizon and White-beaked Dolphins appeared 🙂  Light levels were challenging, and didn’t help with achieving the sort of exposure times necessary for fast moving dolphins bow-riding so video proved to be much better and you can see a few minutes by clicking here 🙂

A lot of our clients are very familiar with Northumberland’s marine wildlife so the question “Where have these Bottlenose Dolphins come from? I can’t remember them being here until the last few years.” is a regular one…

Until 2012 Bottlenose Dolphin was a rare animal in Northumberland waters and when I was researching/writing the cetacean species accounts for ‘Mammals, Amphibians and Reptiles of the North East’ there had only been 11 sightings of 10 or more animals since the first Northumberland record in 1966.

Friday evening and I was (vaguely) back in action.  Three days in hospital had left me drained, but with the sea forecast to be flat calm I couldn’t think of a better way to continue my recovery than by spending a few hours out on the North Sea…

Broken cloud hinted at a good sunset towards the end of the evening, but as we sailed north attention was focused on wherever gulls and Gannets were congregating…and diligent scanning brought a small group of White-beaked Dolphins feeding quietly 🙂  They only had a very brief look at the boat before returning to feeding so we gave them some space and then continued on our way north.  The journey back towards the Tyne brought the expected sunset, and it really was a good one 🙂

Weather permitting, we’ve got our final two evening trips this week, and then next Tuesday is the first of this year’s 10hr Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic sailings.  Give us a call on 01670 827465, email enquiries@newtltd.co.uk or just click on available dates (August 29th, September 15th, September 22nd) on our online calendar to book your place before they’re all filled.

Friday 27th was the first of our 4hr evening pelagics this year to fall victim to the weather, so it was great to see a much better forecast for the start of August…unfortunately I found myself having an unexpected few days in hospital so Steve and Paul organised our clients at the start of the trip and acted as onboard guides 🙂

White-beaked Dolphins put in an appearance off North Blyth and then in the mouth of the Tyne on a dark wet evening, and I was getting notifications about the sightings while laid in a hospital bed 🙂

We’ve still got a few places available on our 10hr Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic sailings on August 29th, September 15th and September 22nd so give us a call on 01670 827465 to book your place 🙂

Here are a few images of White-beaked Dolphins on sailings over the last few years…