Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

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…

With a glassy calm river outside the marina, and a great forecast for the evening (after the rain had passed a couple of hour earlier), we had a dilemma.  Allan had seen a group of White-beaked Dolphins in the deep south (or County Durham as its residents call it…) a couple of hours earlier so were we going to change our sailing plan that has served us well for over 20 years and turn right as we passed through the Tyne Piers?

We hadn’t even left the river when a Harbour Porpoise appeared and by then we’d already decided to ‘head south for a bit and turn north if we don’t find anything’.  Ten minutes later I was scanning directly ahead and spotted a couple of fins…

All of our 4hr evening pelagics are fully booked now but we’ve still got a few spaces on our groundbreaking Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic sailings on August 29th, September 15th and September 22nd.  Those are filling up too, so give us a call on 01670 827465 to book your place 🙂

There are days when we search for a long time before finding the wildlife that we’re searching for, there are days when despite our best efforts it eludes us, and then there was last night…

Conditions were looking good with cloud cover and gentle swell so exactly what we’d hope for when we’re searching for dolphins.  We’re doing cetacean surveys on all of our pelagic trips this year and Caroline and Genine had only just started recording the environmental conditions, as we settled on to a steady course, when Tim spotted dolphins ahead of the boat 🙂  This first group of 5 White-beaked Dolphins buzzed the boat a couple of times but were clearly on a mission and quickly departed to the south.  We resumed our original course and passed by Kittiwakes, Gannets and Guillemots before eventually turning back south as the Sun sank lower in the sky towards a slight break in the cloud.  The swell was building, and the gloom of dusk was taking hold when our second group of White-beaked Dolphins for the evening appeared, and these ones were in a much more playful mood 🙂

All of our 4hr evening sailings apart from August 8th are full and our 10hr Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic on August 14th has sold out too.  We’ve got a few spaces on our 10hr sailings on August 29th, September 15th and September 22nd so give us a call on 01670 827465 to book your place.  We only have limited availability on our sailings so booking early is always the best option to make sure you get a place!

Some of our North Sea pelagic trips encounter whales and dolphins and lots of birds…and some don’t.  Sometimes the most jaw-dropping thing isn’t the wildlife, but something equally unpredictable…

Our 4hr evening sailings on 1st and 8th August still have a very limited number of spaces available, as do our 10hr Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic sailings on August 29th, September 15th and September 22nd.  Every other sailing is fully booked so give us a call on 01670 827465 to book your space before they’re all gone!