Tuesday 16 July 2013

Week 4 July 1st – 7th



Unfortunately very bad weather conditions this week meant we didn’t get out much. On the few trips that did occur early in the week there were no sightings. However this was not unexpected as fog, high swell and high winds all combined to make sighting any cetaceans almost impossible. However as the weather improved toward the end of the week so did the sightings. On Saturday the 6th we had a good encounter with two basking sharks which remained on the surface feeding around the boat for some time. 

Basking Shark (c) Paddy O'Dwyer
Sunday the 7th much improved conditions saw a big increase in sightings. We had three separate sightings of individual harbour porpoises through the day. We also came across a group of three basking sharks feeding on the surface very early on the morning trip. We saw a single animal while moored up beside An Blascaod Mor it swam beneath the boat and disappeared from view. When we returned to this area in the evening this group had increases in size to five animals. They swam around the boat for ages paying it little to no attention. We also had three separate sightings of minke whales. The first was a pair consisting of an adult and juvenile while they appeared to be in a different spot to the pair we had been encountering lately they were certainly similar in size. The final two minke whale sightings were of two separate individuals. We also came across our fist sunfish of the year on the Sunday trip

Basking Shark (c) Paddy O'Dwyer

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