Spectacular Sea Safaris!

ORCA Sea Safari Guide, Brian Clasper, wrote the below account from the Sea Safari on the 7th to 9th August 2024.

We departed Plymouth with a full ferry destined for Santander. The ORCA Sea Safari team; guides and guests, were treated to a very good presentation by Sina, our onboard Ocean Conservationist, all about ORCA and the species we might be lucky enough to spot.

Then straight for a deck watch until sunset. Low pressures from the Atlantic prior to sailing provided a bonus of many seabirds. Large numbers of Manx shearwaters, then Cory's shearwaters and great shearwaters surrounded the ship. However, to all the birder's delight - a Wilson's petrel was seen, plus a Balearic shearwater. Our first cetacean sightings of the trip were bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins, recorded in small groups swimming and feeding in association with shoals of tuna.

Our viewing started at dawn on deck 10 as we entered the lower third of the Bay of Biscay - and the sea was as flat as a pancake - perfect whale watching conditions! As the sun rose, our first common dolphins approached the Pont-Aven - an amazing start to the day. We were treated to some distant blows from large baleen whales. However the most emotional sighting was of three very close fin whales passing down the side of the ship, including a calf. The next excitement came with a pod of 8 passing pilot whales. Seabirds were still evident with Bulwer's petrel and a Scopoli's shearwater being noted, true rarities.

On the approach to Santander, a dead unidentified dolphin was spotted. Not that interesting I hear you shout! However.....only on closer inspection of ORCA Sea Safari Guide Rachel's photos when she got home did she notice that there was a shark having a feast on said dolphin. Just goes to show how much is going on out there without us knowing...

As we entered the port of Santander some of us were treated to distant views of Griffon vultures soaring over the distant mountain range. We had a few hours in Santander allowing us time to have an ice cream and some lunch, marvelling at hummingbird hawk moths in the park before heading back to the ship for the return.

Shortly after leaving Santander, a black kite flew over the ship and a pod of striped dolphins passed by. We were getting the occasional views of small pods of dolphins and two immense sunfish as we approached the south shelf of the canyons. As the sun was about to set, it became rather busy. At first we passed a pod of pilot whales then we had two distant blows near the horizon of two probable fin whales. However another blow between them, more like a fire hydrant, shot up high into the air.....a (possible) blue whale! A rare sighting in the bay (this sighting is recorded as an 'unidentified whale' on the map, as we did not quite get a glimpse of any of the other key identification features for a 100% positive identification). While this was going on, on the other side of the ship, six Cuvier's beaked whales popped up close to the ship. There was a lot of happy people (guides included!).

It was windier on the final day of the Sea Safari but after last night there were many eager people up at dawn. Small pods of bottlenose and common dolphin were seen well, as we were now in the English Channel. However the relentless passage of seabirds was continuing and a few miles south of the Edison Lighthouse there was a massive feeding frenzy. The sea appeared to boil, as gannets plunged into feeding dolphins and tuna. Two Minke whales were amongst them, lunge feeding. In all the excitement a Scopoli's shearwater was noted a true rarity in British waters.

What a special and magnificent Sea Safari, truly enjoyed by all.

A map of our sightings can be viewed below.

Thank you so much to all of those that joined us on this memorable trip!