July to August Update - Post 5 - A weekend on the Scillies (Day 3)

7 am..... another day, another chance to get to grips with the seabirds off the Scillies. The morning trip down to Co-op for supplies done and it was onto the boat. With the new additions to the crew (Barry Embling and Lewis Thomson) finally making it after a hellish journey down to Cornwall, the stage was set. It had to be a good day to give those guys a bit of a reward for their efforts to make it.

Bob gave the usual chat, informing us that we were going to steam 8 miles off to the south of the islands to drift and chum trying for Wilsons again as well as fishing for Blue Shark, then off to chase trawlers close by to try for the big shears again. On the way out the weather looked as though it would be wet and windy for the day, but the further out we got, the clouds lifted and the sunshine burnt through.

Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) on the sea

After an hour and a half steaming out we got to our first destination. The chum was put overboard, the lines dropped for the sharks and the waiting game began. It wasn't long before the petrels started to drift in as well as the Fulmars, who decided to sit on the sea right next to the boat, giving great opportunities to get some close shots.

A couple of hours later, with nothing really happening, Joe and Bob were having a debate about whether or not to move when someone noticed a Blue Shark fin near the floats..... it was a big shark too. A few moments later and the line fizzed..... the shark had taken the bait..... or had it? The fin was back at the surface, nowhere near the line, so what had we got? 10 minutes of reeling brought the catch to the surface, another Blue Shark, but this time much smaller than the one whose fin was still being seen circling the boat. Joe told us it was a young shark, weighing in at around 30lbs, and it was likely that the other fin belonged to mum. The young shark was landed, tagged with a GPS transmitter and released and as just as it swum away the line buzzed on the second rod..... this time it was mum. For 20 minutes it was a game of cat and mouse, reeling in, letting the shark take line then reeling in again until we got our first proper glimpse of the shark. It was huge! Quotes from Jaws like "You're gonna to need a bigger boat...." and "Boys, oh boys..... I think he's coming back around for his noon feeding...." came from several sources on the deck (Mr Woollen the main culprit!)....... Eventually the shark was brought to the surface again and the blue hue of it's skin shone vividly, a really spectacular fish. After landing it, the shark was measured from nose to tail and tagged. It measured 8 and a bit feet in length and was pretty peeved about being out of the water, even turning around and sinking it's teeth into the bench of the boat!

Blue Shark (Prionace glauca)

After all the necessities were done, the shark was released back into it's watery domain and we reeled in the lines to steam off after trawlers in the area to (hopefully) find some big shears. The first one was approximately 5 miles away, so everyone sat down to chat about the monsters of the deep that we had just encountered and debating about what, if anything, we would find next to the trawlers.

Blue Shark (Prionace glauca) deciding to eat the boat!

We didn't have to wait long as soon enough the trawler could be seen in the distance. Looking at the rear of the boat we could see it teeming with birds in the sky, gulls and gannets mostly, but we were still to far away to really see what was in the mix. As we got closer, the shout went up the same as the day before.... "Great Shearwater behind the trawler...."..... this caused a mass scramble again, including Barry and Lewis (both of whom, surprisingly considering the amount that they have travelled across the globe watching birds, had never seen Great before), and everyone watched it as it cruised about on it's stiff wings looking for tit-bits from the trawlers catch. Great Shearwaters are a real south-west speciality and only turn up for a few months each year at the end of the summer. They migrate from the Southern Hemisphere where they breed on South Pacific islands, like Tristan da Cunha and Nightingale Island,up the eastern seaboard of the Americas before crossing the Atlantic on their way back down south during August which is when we tend to see them off the coast of Britain, mostly when there have been strong prevailing south westerly winds which pushes them closer to the land.

Great Shearwater (Puffinus gravis)

The Great Shear then blew us away..... it came closer and closer, circling the boat a couple of times before eventually settling on the sea right next to our boat! It was like being at a movie première on the red carpet with the sound of camera shutters going off like machine-guns all around us.

Great Shearwater (Puffinus gravis)

Great Shearwater (Puffinus gravis)

Great Shearwater (Puffinus gravis)

After spending an hour watching this fantastic seabird at such close quarters it was time to head back in. Everyone was buzzing from the experience with the shearwater but things were going to get better still! Dolphins! A pod of 50 were found about 300m away from the boat underneath a mass of Gannets plunging into the water to catch the fish that the dolphins had forced to the surface. As we cruised up to them the dolphins must have had their fill of fish and decided to come straight up to the boat and bow ride at the front. They gave us incredible views, jumping out of the water besides us and generally having a load of fun, maybe it was because they felt the atmosphere on deck.... our joy of having had a brilliant day of nature experiences.... maybe it was to try to take Phils mind off the bad news that he'd received in the morning about the passing of his long term companion labrador Molly...... it felt a lot like they knew how each of us were feeling and wanted to be a part of it all to put a massive smile on each of our faces. They didn't disappoint.

Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis)

Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis)

Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis)

Finally, after leaving to dolphins to carry on with their day, we set off for dry land. A great view of an Ocean Sunfish capped a pretty amazing day out on the sea.

Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola)

On arriving back onto St. Mary's, a few of us decided to have a wander on the north end of the island to look for a Bee-eater that had been hanging around all summer, but after 2 hours of searching we'd drawn a blank, so it was back to the pub for an evening meal, a few beers (well.... Crabbies....) and a chat about the day. It was a relief that Barry and Lewis had made it across, also that the day that they had come on had been the best of the weekend. (Originally they had booked the day previous, but as they had been stuck on the M5 they had missed the Scillonian and had to transfer their pelagic to the day after.... things happen for a reason!).

The next morning would be spent on the island looking for migrants and the Bee-eater, so it was off to bed ready for an early start.