Off to the Bay of Biscay!

I stepped out onto open deck wrapped up in my gloves, hat, scarf and so many layers that I resembled the Michelin man. The sea was silently calm and only gently lit with the beginning of the morning sunrise – it was 6 am and I was sailing south across the Bay of Biscay, several miles off the west coast of France.

My local patch for this week has moved from the Inner Hebrides, as I was away with work doing a cetacean survey – and I was eager to get spotting some new wildlife. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be “speciesist”, but after 3 years of working with minke whales, bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoise I was keen to tick some different species off my wish list. Top of my list were fin whales (second largest, after the blue whale) and pilot whales (members of the blackfish family which also includes orcas).

The sea breeze was surprisingly warm, but I knew after a half an hour in the cooling wind I’d be freezing.

Sunrise at 6am over the Bay of Biscay

The unusual, almost artificial-looking banding on the sun as it rose above the waves.

Only seconds after making it (or waddling) up to the top deck of the 185 metre ship did I see the water erupt with white specks on the horizon. Waves? No – the rest of the sea flat calm…there was only one other thing they could be – and they were charging straight for us at full speed.

“Dolphins!” I called into the muggy sea air, and guests ran to my side with murmurs of excitement – forgetting they were cold, sleepy and hadn’t had breakfast. The black dots of the pod were scattered over a kilometre wide and could be seen from both port and starboard sides of the ship. After waiting for them to come close enough to us, I caught sight of yellow flashes down their sides in the morning sun – common dolphins!

First thing to tick off the list. Despite them being “common” and known for travelling in large groups, I’ve never seen one in the 3 years I’ve been guiding and surveying around the UK – so to see them racing towards me in the early morning light was breathtaking.

Smaller than the bottlenose dolphins (but with a boisterous personality to match) they stormed towards us simply to ride in the wake of the ship. We counted 274 in total. Not bad before breakfast!

As the day progressed sunfish were spotted basking at the warm surface, along with a distant breaching minke. Descending from the exposed top deck for lunch I nodded to the sunlotion-covered families sunbathing in bikinis. They stared at me, open mouthed, as I shuffled past their cocktails in my 25 layers of clothing.

When I came back up I learned my team had seen two fin whales. Never, ever, again will I stop whale watching to do something as utterly unnecessary as eat lunch.

For the rest of the day I stubbornly glued my eyes to the ocean, deeming food and water to be for wimps. Throughout the afternoon the howling wind made it extremely difficult to hold binoculars straight – but, nonetheless, fins were spotted 800 metres away.

“Bottlenose dolphins!” someone shouted – but I wasn’t convinced – they were too big…their dorsal fins too rounded…could they be?

“PILOT WHALES!” a colleague shouted. Oh YES. Now we can get excited. A pod of 6 pilot whales were making their way north off the starboard side. A couple of young ones breached, sending 4 metre splashes into the air.

My excitement at seeing pilot whales!

Shortly afterwards, bottlenose dolphins appeared, accompanied by a Risso’s Dolphin (another first!) and ANOTHER pod of pilot whales appeared off the port side (so I decided that I like pilot whales more than fin whales. Again, not being speciesist).

And so it went on. Striped dolphins, over 50 leaping tuna, and even a blue shark…then more common dolphins.

Common dolphins off the coast of Brittany

The only problem in watching wildlife which lives below the waves, from 25 metres above the waves, is that it is exceptionally difficult to get photographs! A lot of sightings were several hundred metres away and lasted a matter of heart-stopping seconds – long enough to point them out to guests, but not enough to take photos (but if you’d like to see my extensive library of near-miss photographs that I took on the trip, involving lots of waves and the occasional splash, then please do email me).

All in all, a great wildlife trip. We also saw 24 different bird species – from shearwaters, skuas (Great, Arctic and Long Tailed) to Sabine’s gulls and even a marsh harrier!

Thanks for reading, and I’ll catch up with you again soon!

 

Sara

A Wildlife Roadtrip – with a l’otter good stuff

“Stooooop!” I yelled from the back of the convertible. As we came to a halt I made a grab for my binoculars and cast a glance back to the water’s edge. I was driving round Mull with some friends, and had been assigned the job of “on board wildlife guide” for the day. I was determined to find them some of the local wildlife (they’d travelled all the way from Holland) but as it was my first time to Mull I wasn’t sure where to look.

The view from Mull as I started searching for wildlife

But I was in luck – there was an otter bobbing in the waves! Constantly diving and surfacing every couple of minutes with catches of crabs or fish. We leapt out of the car and scrambled across near-lethal slippery seaweed down to the shore line.

Like a game of musical statues, every time the otter surfaced we froze in position while it ate. Each time it dived under we quickly resumed crawling over the barnacle covered rocks to get closer.

The otter, fishing about 50 metres away, seemed totally oblivious as it slurped fish down like spaghetti!

I watched for 45 minutes as it worked its way around the bay of Loch Na Keal. Finally, I saw it surface with a fish almost the same size as itself (a salmon?). It was clearly struggling to subdue the catch – sinking back under the water every couple of seconds as it battled to support the weight of the fighting fish. Deciding the fight would be easier to handle out of the water, the otter headed for the rocks, dragging the unwilling fish with it.

After that I lost sight of it. Despite thoroughly searching the shoreline and waiting for patiently, I think the otter had wisely hidden itself from the view of ravens, hooded crows and buzzards to enjoy its main course in peace.

Our great day of wildlife didn’t stop there – we also saw a female sea eagle (and nest!). Perched atop a tree about 1km away, her cream head feathers stood out against the dark green of the pine forests and enabled me to spot her instantly.

Can you spot the Sea Eagle?

On the way back we sailed over flat calm waters watching thousands of jellyfish beside the ship, and several porpoise gently breaking the surface of the sea in the sunset. And all crammed into 8 hours – not bad!

Scenery of Mull as we departed for the evening

The otter watching didn’t stop there – as soon as I got back to the island I was back watching from near my house until 11pm!

The sea eagle chick I see every week on Jura has now left the nest – after its parents had been starving it for days (weeks?) to make it leave. Last week it finally got the courage to take flight – hopefully I’ll see more of it as it grows up round these islands and raises young of its own in the years to come.

Until next week!

Sara

Sara’s Crash Course in Marine ID Skills

A common question guests ask me when whale watching is: “What do we need to look for?”

It might sound obvious: “Well, you need to look for a whale, madam.”

However, the cetaceans that patrol the British coasts can be extremely elusive. Countless times have the footprints of porpoise appeared around the boat before quickly melting back into the surf, or splashes on the horizon have given away a pod of dolphins. But to the untrained eye they can look nothing more than waves.

Would you have realised this was the “footprint” of a Minke Whale?

How do you distinguish between a porpoise and a dolphin? How did you know that was a whale? How do you know where they’re going to come up?

Again, the questions I get asked on a daily basis! So, in the spirit of preparation for the Big Watch Weekend I’ve decided to give you all a Marine Mammal ID crash course so that on the 26th-27th July you can ditch sitting in front of the TV and head to your nearest spot of coastline and make the most of summer. Who knows what you’ll see? So – print out this blog, grab a camera and binoculars and head on outdoors.

Good signs for cetaceans:
Birds: I think people are surprised by how excited I get when I see a lot of bird activity. After all, we’re on a whale watching trip. But birds are a great indicators of the underwater activities, which you can’t see so easily. If you know where the birds are – then you’ll have a better idea of where the cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoise) are. Gannets are the best ones to look for – if you see these birds circling high above the water and diving, then there’s a high chance there are cetaceans driving the fish underneath them.

Baitball feeding

Gannet ID: Bright white feathers, black wing tips, yellow head and almost a 2 metre wing span!

Calm weather: you can be the best wildlife guide in the world but if the weather isn’t right, you simply won’t be able to see anything. Undoubtedly the best weather for whale watching is flat calm water (i.e. no wind at all!) and slightly over cast so you don’t get bright glare from the sun. Sea State 0-2 is the best, but I’ve still managed to see minke whales in a Sea State 6 (albeit I was clinging on for dear life). Click here to learn about Sea States.

How to identify cetaceans when you’ve found them:
Harbour Porpoise:
These are the most common cetacean in British waters – yet they are the hardest to see! You need very calm waters to see these shy creatures as they gently break the surface. Porpoise can be notoriously difficult to photograph because they are so shy, so you need a lot of patience.
Porpoise ID:
• Triangular dorsal fin (avoid confusion with the curved dorsal fin of a dolphin)
• 1.5-1.9 metres in length
• Very small/little splash
• Shy personality – in contrast to dolphins, porpoise won’t spend time jumping at the surface (other than the necessary for breathing!)
Best place to see them: All around the UK coast but the North Sea (between Newcastle – Hull) and the West Coast of Scotland (Firth of Lorn) are two good places.

I took this photo last week. It’s a good example of how calm the water needs to be to see small and shy porpoise…can you spot it?

 

Dolphins:
Bottlenose dolphins are very confident, energetic and quite frankly totally the opposite of porpoise regarding personality. They often head towards boats to swim with them (bow ride) and investigate what’s going on.
Britain’s most common dolphin – Bottlenose Dolphin ID:
• Look for lots of splashes and acrobatic jumping.
• Curved, gun-metal grey dorsal fins.
• These dolphins can reach up to 3.9 metres in length – they’re big!
Best place to see them: Moray Firth (Scotland) and Cardigan Bay (Wales).

With a bit of practice the splashes of dolphins on a calm day are unmistakable – even at a distance!

White Beaked Dolphin ID:
• Black, curved and pointed dorsal fins.
• White/grey saddle patches on the back.
• Most often seen in groups of 5-10.
• 3 metres in length
Best place to see them: North Sea (Northumberland coastline)

White beaked dolphins from a far – note the white saddle patches on their backs (and the calm weather! Any waves would make this difficult to spot from a distance)

Minke whales:
You can’t confuse a whale with a porpoise – but I suppose from a distance you can confuse it with a dolphin if you don’t get a good look at it.
Minke whale ID:
• They’re BIG! Up to 10 metres in length.
• Their dorsal fins are two thirds of the way along their body (unlike dolphins and porpoise which have them half way).
• Minke whales rarely splash (unless breaching of course).
• Look for a dark shape coming slowly out of the water (which contrasts with the quick, splashing movement of dolphins). They often surface 3-5 times before deep diving (signalled by a pronounced arching of the back). Once they’re down they can be gone for up to 20 minutes – by which time they could have easily travelled several kilometres away.

Best place to see them: West coast of Scotland

Note the dorsal fin of a minke whale is two thirds of the way along its body, unlike the central fins of dolphins and porpoise.

A lot of identifying wildlife obviously comes with experience – we’re all beginners at some point. I once confidently identified an eagle to everybody (which turned out to be a plane) and on another occasion a shark (which turned out to be a log). But you have to start somewhere! I think getting out to your nearest coastline will be a GREAT start.
Take your cameras with you and let me know what you see! If you’re not sure of any wildlife you photograph on your adventures, you can always send them through to me for a look.
Top tip: If you know the cetaceans are there but are having trouble spotting them, keep watching the behaviour of any birds (particularly gannets) and look underneath them! If there is feeding happening, more often than not the birds will lead you to the right spot.

For more about my life as a wildlife guide, watch my film “Wild Islands“!
Happy wildlife watching folks!
Sara

See Sara’s website here: www.sarafrost.webs.com

 

Photos: Sara Frost and David Ainsley

Goodness gracious – baitballs of fire!

It’s always a great sign when you discover you’re floating above a pile of sandeels. Slowing the boat down, my colleague and I glanced to the echosounder and saw a large shoal of fish on the screen, taking shape as a thick cloud of red pixels.

Sandeels shoal in the surface waters or down in the sand on the sea bed, and form the staple diet for countless marine birds and mammals.

Luckily for me, that means that I can hang around with the sandeels until the wildlife comes along for lunch. But today the birds had beaten me to it, squawking loudly as they took advantage of the huge shoal underneath us.

In the heat of the afternoon sun, flaps of wings and flurries of feathers surrounded the boat. Black backed gulls dived head first into the water and surfaced with beaks full of wriggling sandeels. I’d never seen a baitball this big before! It was a calm sunny day, and through the turquoise water I could make out the black shadow of the sandeel shoal as they swarmed, panicked by the birds.

Bottoms up!!

The guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes looked almost overwhelmed, not knowing where to put their beaks first – but it didn’t matter. Regardless of where they dived they came back up with beaks teaming full of fish. Some wriggled furiously and managed to drop back into the water, but for most, it was their last glimpse of sunlight before disappearing into a dark gullet.

Black backed gulls with beak fulls of sandeels

A lone puffin having a wing stretch

Over the cries of the seabirds I heard a “Pff!” and glanced down to see the footprint of a porpoise splash, slowly fading back into waves.

“Pff!” another surfaced behind me. One after another they jumped around the boat, startling seabirds as they burst out of the water for breaths in between catching sandeels. I counted at least 20 porpoise as their shapes appeared and disappeared through the turquoise waters. What a fantastic day!

Mrs Sea Eagle near the nest, looking a little bit raggy!

We also visited the sea eagle nest – the chick is now huge and on the verge of fledging – I’m sure it’ll be gone in a few days. I last saw it standing on the edge of the nest, looking to its surroundings and clumsily flapping its wings. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a safe fledging and hoping to see it take to the skies soon! I’m sure the local ravens will object as usual and try to mob it – but hopefully the youngster will hold its own. I’ll keep you posted.

For now, the activity (both in and out of water) continues to get busier for the summer and I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be – happy days!

Sara

 

Wild Islands

This week I am thrilled to release my new wildlife film “Wild Islands”! Please sit back for 10 minutes and join me at sea as I show you the fantastic wildlife in my local patch: the Inner Hebrides.

Click to watch Sara’s Wild Islands:

I’ve had 6 months of fun filming in sun, rain and snow. It’s been a steep learning curve – I didn’t realise how difficult it could be to film at sea (a lot of footage is made useless by waves wobbling the boat – especially in a whirlpool!).

There have been some highs and lows (presenting next to an extremely foul smelling pile of crab shells was certainly NOT my favourite moment) and I’m very pleased to have it finished. So please enjoy the film.

 

Hope you like meeting the wildlife in my local patch!

Sara

On Wing and Wild Water

I scanned the treeline looking for that familiar shape standing out against the branches. Nothing in the trees…and nothing in the branches…

Oh wait – here she is! Right on cue the female sea eagle flew from the open woodland, dominating the sky. For such a heavy bird (about 5kg) she landed elegantly into her nest, careful not to trample what was sitting inside it. She had a kill clutched in her talons. Through my binoculars I could see her tearing small pieces of meat with her beak and gently feeding it to something out of sight underneath her – she has a chick!

One of the parent Sea Eagles casting a protective glance over its territory. No photos of the nest will be posted to protect the eagle’s location (…and privacy??)                           (Photo: David Ainsley)

 

I was elated. There are two white tailed sea eagle nests on these islands. The first nest has been here for 7 years or so, but this one was only built last year by a young pair, and they failed to breed. Hopefully this could be the year!

After feeding the chick(s), she took to the skies with the remains of her kill and landed on a hill side where she continued to feast on it, pulling out white feathers (an unfortunate seagull?) as she dined.

Dining away from the nest on a freshly caught seagull

Only 50 metres away, a juvenile white tailed sea eagle was being pestered by a pair of hooded crows. I felt a rather sorry for it – it was perched on a branch in the sun minding its own business when they ganged up on it and refused to leave it alone. It eventually gave up and flew off over a ridge, the crows squawking and mobbing it as they escorted it out of their territory.

A juvenile sea eagle being harassed out of the area by a pair of hooded crows

The second (older) sea eagle nest was occupied – mum was sitting in it and didn’t move once, so I can only hope she’s also on eggs or has a chick already.

Only time will tell! I’ll keep you posted.

Sara

The Flying Barn Door

“Is it her?” I shouted to my boss in the wheelhouse. He’d spotted a white blob in the distant trees on Jura.

I scrambled up the whale watching platform on the deck and had a scan through my binoculars as our boat drew closer to the shore.

“Yes it is!” I shouted down. I saw a familiar shape proudly perched on top of the highest fir tree of the shoreline. Fantastic!

Her golden feathers shone boldly against the green foliage as she cast an authoritative glare over her kingdom. Then, with a bow of her head, she spread her 2.5 metre wings and took to the skies.

White tailed sea eagle. Photo: David Ainsley

A flying white tailed sea eagle is fairly hard to miss close up – think of a seeing a pair of flying barn doors suddenly dominating the sky and sending all other birdlife squawking for cover. Pretty impressive.

It’s a privilege to watch the daily lives of these animals without disturbing them – I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed that I hear the patter of tiny feet (or should I say the flapping of tiny wings?) this summer and I have some chicks to watch grow up too.

With a cry she flew off over a ridge and out of sight, as I headed home with a big grin on my face. The weather on the island has been (mostly) calm, with a few good sunsets to sit by while I write my blog!

Hoping for more calm weather to come, and that it brings the wildlife with it.

Sara