BAY OF BISCAY 14 - 18 AUGUST 2006
Trip Report by Caroline Still & Graham Tucker
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BAY OF BISCAY 14 - 18 AUGUST 2006 Trip Report by Caroline Still & Graham Tucker |
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Client Quote.... 'A wonderful trip with fantastic sightings' A & S. 2003 |
The Bay of Biscay is a remarkable place and in our brief crossing we saw a total of six species of cetacean and over 700 animals. Several members of the group had encountered their first sighting of a whale and for all of us the breaching beaked whales were a unique and very memorable highlight.
Monday 14th August We boarded the Pride of Bilbao in Portsmouth just after 8pm and sailed south across the Channel towards the Brittany coast. During an introductory briefing, and accompanied by a few drinks from the bar, we had the chance to get to know our fellow travellers.
Tuesday 15th AugustAt 6.30am we were still sailing across the English Channel. The sea was calm at sea state 3, despite a fairly brisk wind of force 4-5. The early risers were rewarded with views of five Harbour Porpoises and seabirds included Gannets and a lone Fulmar. By 9.00am we had excellent visibility, the sea was almost flat calm at sea state 1-2 and the sunny weather filled everyone with great anticipation. Soon we were sailing through the shallow waters of the Brittany coast, the numbers of seabirds increased and we enjoyed some good views of Bonxie’s (Great Skua), while Gannets continued to stream by, periodically plunge diving for fish in their characteristic fashion.
By midday we had rounded the Isle d’Ouessant off Cape Finistere, and the clear conditions afforded excellent views of the ragged coastline. By early afternoon we were heading into the northern part of the Bay of Biscay. Seabirds included a Sooty Shearwater, a lovely adult Sabine’s Gull, three Arctic Skuas and another couple of Bonxie’s. Excitement mounted as we spotted two pods of Bottlenose Dolphins cruising through the waves, a taste of things to come we hoped. These large, robust dolphins swam towards the ship and performed acrobatic displays in the wake behind us. Lucy and Jon then spotted our only Sunfish of the trip. Soon we had turned to the south and were heading into the Bay of Biscay. Throughout the afternoon we encountered numerous small groups of Common Dolphins, their yellowish flanks, dark V-shape capes and smaller, compact bodies, clearly distinguished them from the Bottlenose Dolphins. These agile dolphins would frequently come in to bow ride and good views could be had by moving down to the lower decks. One pod of at least 200 animals swam towards the port side of the ship. Resembling an advancing army, the group were synchronised in a spectacular line formation. The animals gradually dissipated as they broke away to bow ride with the ship. They remained with us for several minutes and good views enabled us to identify a number of calves in the group. For many this exciting encounter was one of the highlights of the trip.
The captain kindly deviated west towards the shelf edge. Here over the upwellings of nutrient rich water and the increased abundance of food, our chances of seeing cetaceans would be maximised. Sure enough, by late afternoon we spotted what we had all been avidly waiting for, three, tall vertical blows of our first Fin Whales.
As we headed into deeper water we were soon joined by more Fin Whales and at times it was hard to know where to look, as calls of sightings were coming from both sides of the ship. Where animals were close enough we could see their long sleek backs rolling effortlessly through the water followed by the swept-back, falcate dorsal fin. These magnificent whales are the second largest animal on the planet (after the Blue Whale) and in the Northern Hemisphere can reach lengths of up to 24m (almost 80 ft).
Seabirds were proving elusive, however, we did see another Sabine’s Gull, a Black Tern and a Manx Shearwater during the frenzy of whale blows. A Fin Whale surfaced very close the Starboard bridge wing and a few minutes later one of the group spotted the blow of another a close animal. As we tracked it’s likely position down the side of the boat a huge head suddenly appeared out of the water. To our surprise it was a Sperm Whale ‘spyhopping’. The animal blew vigorously and we could see the blowhole angled forward on the left side of the head. Amazingly a couple of the group managed to get a photo, and zooming in on Annette’s digital screen we could clearly see the large blunt head of a Sperm Whale.
We then had some distant views of a pod of 10 Pilot Whales as they swam in a close family group. The varying fin shapes allowed us to identify a couple of adult males, amongst the juveniles and females. The light glinted off the animals’ round bulbous heads and sporadically we could see their small puffy blows.
Although a little early in the season perhaps, sightings of large shearwater species had nevertheless been scarce in Biscay over the summer, and despite our conscientious scanning, we managed only two Cory’s Shearwaters that evening. We saw our final Fin Whale at 8.40pm and as the light had faded to a murky grey under the heavy cloud cover and we unanimously agreed it was time to end the watch. This concluded a great day of whale watching.
Wednesday 16th AugustWe docked in the town of Santurzi, at about 7.00 and disembarked shortly afterwards. About half the group headed into the foothills behind Santurtzi in search of birds and butterflies, whilst most of the others visited Bilbao.
Although the weather was cool and cloudy, which resulted in very little butterfly activity, the birding was rewarding and we managed to see a good proportion of the typical birds of the area. Highlights included excellent views of the numerous Red-backed Shrikes, large numbers of Stonechats, some Serins, a couple of Cirl Buntings, a rather brief Melodious Warbler, a very obliging Zitting Cisticola and about 15 distant Griffon Vultures soaring in the thermals over the surrounding hills.
Despite the low numbers of butterflies, we did manage to see some interesting species, including the southern race of Speckled Wood, a Long-tailed Blue (photographed by many) and in town, two Lang’s short-tailed Blues (bizarrely by the same row of shops that we saw one a few years ago).
Other interesting invertebrate sightings included, a beautiful Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi), and Hummingbird Hawk Moth. We also found a small dead snake identified as Seaone's Viper, this has now been has been split from Common Adder, so a tick for most of us!
We set sail at about 12.35 and many of us enjoyed a picnic of typical local Spanish fare consisting of bread, cheese, ham, chorizo and juicy tomatoes washed down with some cheap, but very drinkable local wine. Unfortunately, no sooner had we finished this than the sea conditions started to deteriorate quite quickly. A heavy swell from the west developed once we had moved away from the shelter of the northern Spanish coast and the wind picked up to a strong SW Force 6. This made viewing, particularly to the west, rather difficult.
However, despite this we ended up having an excellent afternoon’s whale watching. This started only and hour or so out of port when we spotted a huge splash far out to the west of us. It was obviously a breaching whale and although it breached several more times it was too far away to identify. A little while later another animal breached on the same side, again frustratingly several kilometres away.
It has often been suggested that whales tend to breach more in rough seas, and this certainly seemed to be happening on this day. A little while after the first two breaches on the port side, we suddenly saw a smallish whale breaching on the starboard side, perhaps 1 km from the ship. It did this six times, clearing the water with each leap and giving us a clear view of the animal’s whole body in profile. It was also with two other similar sized animals, all of which seemed to be a uniform dark grey colour, with no obvious markings. Unfortunately the animals were too far away to identify with certainty, and sadly nobody managed to get photographs. However, after comparing notes amongst observers, we can be fairly certain that they were small beaked whales of the genus Mesoplodon, on the basis of their smallish size, head shapes and relatively small rather triangular (rather than falcate) dorsal fins. It is also likely, that on the basis of head shape and beak structure they were True’s or Gervais beaked whales – but to be sure we would have had to see the position of the erupting teeth on the lower jaws of an adult male! Anyway, whatever they were, it was a marvellous sighting as Mesoplodonts are rarely seen alive at sea and are perhaps some of the most mysterious large animals on the planet.
So it was even more astonishing, when only a quarter of an hour later, another (obviously different individual) did almost exactly the same thing off the starboard side. This gave the opportunity for many to see what they had missed the first time. But sadly this one only breached two or three times and although some people had their cameras at the ready following the previous encounter, this also evaded a photograph. Despite the brief view it was again thought to be another Mesoplodont, but this time there was less confidence of the likely species involved. Some observers on the ship thought it might have been accompanied by a second animal, but our group only saw one.
After all this excitement it became very quiet for quite a while, sea bird numbers, were very low. In fact only three Cory’s Shearwaters were seen on the whole trip and no Great Shearwaters. However, later in the afternoon we did have good and close views of two Little Shearwaters, much to the delight of the birders on the ship.
We also started to come across good numbers of Fin Whales and occasional pods of Common Dolphins from late afternoon, right up to dusk. Despite some thunder showers and almost zero visibility for a while, the total number of Fin Whales for the return leg across the southern bay ended up being a very respectable 33 with another 28 probable animals in which we had seen only the blow and therefore couldn’t positively identify these animals as Fin Whales. As evening progressed, one animal surfaced very close to us, which was a good reward for those who had braved the challenging visibility to the end.
Thursday 18th AugustAlthough a few early risers were out on watch from first light, very little was seen today as we headed up the Channel. Some Harbour Porpoises were seen early on (including some breaching animals, which is unusual for this species) but no other cetaceans. Seabird numbers were also rather low, except for the numerous Gannets.
Most of us therefore enjoyed a leisurely group breakfast in the carvery, the large forward facing windows enabling us to watch the Gannets drift by. We then rounded off the trip with the log later in the morning and later some attended the informative Biscay Dolphin Research Programme talk.
In turned into a nice sunny day, and many enjoyed the views as we headed up the Channel. We could see the Channel Islands in the distance and later we had good views of the Isle of Wight, and soon the characteristic coastline of the south coast of England appeared through the haze. As we sailed into Portsmouth Harbour, the Pride of Bilbao provided an excellent vantage point from which to view the myriad of naval vessels, including historic ships such as the impressive HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
Although we had not had the best of weather on our trip, we had been fortunate enough to have many exciting encounters with whales and dolphins. For many, this trip had provided the first taste of whale watching and had clearly whetted the appetite for more! Highlights varied according to personnel feelings, but some of the most memorable sighting are likely to include the mysterious small-beaked whales, the huge group of porpoising Common Dolphins and of course the dozens of Fin Whales.
We therefore hope that you have all been suitably inspired and will go on to have further wonderful whale watching encounters in the bay and beyond. We thank you for all your enthusiasm and for being such great company. We hope that we will have the opportunity to travel with you again in future.
Very best wishes
Caroline Still and Graham Tucker
BAY OF BISCAY – 14-18 August 2006
Summary of sightings at sea
Santurtzi, Wednesday 17 August- Summary of sightings on land (P= present; H = heard)
Birds
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WildWings, 577 Fishponds Road, Fishponds, Bristol. BS16 3AF.UK
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