28TH JULY 2011
Dorset, Portland
3 Balearic Shearwaters, 7 Manx Shearwaters, 8 Fulmars, Bonxie, Common Tern, 92 Gannets, 60 Herring Gulls, 7 Great Black-backed Gulls, 4 Guillemots and a Grey Seal seen during JNCC/MARINElife transect survey.

22ND JULY 2011

Weymouth, Naturetrek Pelagic

4 Balearic Shearwater, 1 Ocean Sunfish (first one on these trips), 8 Kittiwake, 21 Common Tern, 2 Sandwich Tern, 1 Guillemot, 1 Fulmar, 1 Shag and 31 Gannet. Survey carried out between 16:45 - 20:15. F3 NNE wind, sunny spells. Survey carried out by Tom Brereton and Sarah Anthony on board Tiger Lily of Weymouth.

Balearic Shearwater

Lyme Bay, MARINElife Photo-ID Survey

8 White-beaked Dolphin (interacting and bow-riding for 1hr 15 minutes). Also 3 Harbour Porpoise, 918 Manx Shearwater (1 extended group of 910+ birds), 6 Balearic Shearwater, 3 European Storm Petrel, 6 Great Skua, 1 Arctic Skua, 1 Pomarine Skua, 2 Sandwich Tern, 7 Dunlin (flying E), 3 Common Tern, 41 Kittiwake, 1 Cormorant, 248 Gannet, 27 Fulmar, 289 Guillemot, 352 Herring Gull and 36 Great Black-backed Gull. Survey carried out by James Phillips on board Huntress II of West Bay. F1 NEE with sunny spells; sea state 0-1.

White-beaked Dolphins bow-riding Huntress II in Lyme Bay

20th JULY 2011
Lyme Bay up to 15nm ESE of Berry Head
Early morning 06:30ish. Strong passage of Manx Shearwaters heading south about 1.5 mile off land. Also Pomarine Skua (full spooned adult), Arctic Skua, Great Skua and Common Scoters. Further out several European Storm-petrels and a Sooty Shearwater investigated the boat while fishing.

Called Mike Langman who went to Berry Head at around 08:30 and saw more good passage from land including some Common Dolphins. See http://devonbirdnews.blogspot.com/

19TH JULY 2011

Cornwall, 5nm S-SSW of St Anthony's Head

50-60 Shearwater species seen in flight at 11:00am ~5nm South of St Anthony's Head. At 1pm, 2 miles due West of the earlier sighting a similar number of Shearwater species seen - not close enough to identify to species. Sighting reported by Ken Dodgson, skipper of Leo1, Falmouth.

18TH JULY 2011

France, Northern Brittany
700 Balearic Shearwater seen in the Bay of St Brieuc (Northern Brittany coast) between the Bay of Lannion and Mont St Michel Bay.

Balearic Shearwaters in Bay of St Brieuc - September 2010

Balearic Shearwaters taking flight in Bay of St Brieuc - September 2010

Balearic Shearwaters feeding in Bay of St Brieuc - September 2010



14TH JULY 2011
Cornwall, Lands End
1 Harbour Porpoise seen at 4pm. Sighting reported by Kathryn Driscoll.

Dorset, Portland Bill

A successful first survey was completed today with 37 Balearic Shearwater recorded during a MARINElife/JNCC Transect Survey off Portland Bill. Survey conducted by Mark Darlaston, Kevin Lane and Neil Gartshore.

Dorset, Lyme Bay
1 Balearic Shearwater seen diving underwater for scraps from around the boat at 11am approx. 9.5nm West of Portland Bill. Sighting reported by Chris Caines, skipper of Tiger Lily, Weymouth.

Balearic Shearwater



13TH JULY 2011
Dorset, Lyme Bay

Probably the same group of 20-30 Bottlenose Dolphin were encountered again at 3pm just off the cliffs to the East of West Bay. Calves present in the group which was travelling West towards St Gabriel's and Stonebarrow. Sighting and video provided by Ian & Liz Simpson of The White House Hotel, Charmouth.

Ca20 Bottlenose Dolphin encountered at 2pm from West Bay Sewer Buoy, travelling West, to Golden Cap. A number of the dolphins had very distinctive dorsal fins. Sighting reported by Ian Cornwell, skipper of Huntress II, West Bay.

10-12 Bottlenose Dolphin seen swimming across the bay past Burton Bradstock at 12:05pm. Sighting reported by Hive Beach Cafe, Burton Bradstock.

12TH JULY 2011

Dorset, Portland Bill

Several Balearic Shearwater seen this morning at Shambles Bank. Sighting reported by Chris Caines, skipper of Tiger Lily, Weymouth.

1 Porbeagle Shark seen just off Portland Race at 11am. Sighting reported by Richard English, skipper of Lone Shark II, Weymouth.

Cornwall, Lands End
3 Basking Shark, 8 Harbour Porpoise and 6 Common Dolphin observed from Lands End. Sighting reported by Kathryn Driscoll.

11TH JULY 2011
Cornwall, Lands End
26 Common Dolphin observed at 1km travelling East from Sennen. Sighting reported by Kathryn Driscoll.

Cornwall, Runnelstone Reef
2 Puffin (adult), 2 Guillemot (adult & juv) , 2 Harbour Porpoise, 1 Sooty Shearwater, 2 Ocean Sunfish, 1 Balearic Shearwater and 2 Basking Shark. Sighting recorded during an Opportunistic Survey by Alice Jones of NOC, Southampton.

10TH JULY 2011
Mid-Channel, 20nm SSE of Start Point, Devon
1 Balearic Shearwater observed foraging around a fishing boat. A pristine bird with no moult as can been seen in the images below. Sighting and images provided by Mark Darlaston.

9TH JULY 2011
Cornwall, Falmouth Bay
A group of 8-10 Bottlenose Dolphin seen again in Falmouth Bay and in the harbour entrance. Sighting reported by Gordon Howells, skipper of Madeline May, Falmouth.

8TH JULY 2011
Devon, Lyme Bay
10+ Bottlenose Dolphin observed swimming West off Beer, Devon. The pod included at least two calves. Sighting reported by Ian McLean.

Cornwall, Falmouth Bay
A group of 8-10 Bottlenose Dolphin seen again in Falmouth Bay and in the harbour entrance. Sighting reported by Gordon Howells, skipper of Madeline May, Falmouth.

7TH JULY 2011
Cornwall, Falmouth Bay
A group of 8-10 Bottlenose Dolphin seen in Falmouth Bay and in the harbour entrance. Sighting reported by Gordon Howells, skipper of Madeline May, Falmouth.

6TH JULY 2011
Cornwall, Lands End
2 White-beaked Dolphin (adult) observed close to shore from Lands End at 13:45. Sighting reported by Kathryn Driscoll.

5TH JULY 2011
Mid-Channel, 33nm SE of Start Point, Devon

1 Basking Shark observed feeding at the surface at 14:30 hours when sailing from Guernsey to Salcombe. Sighting reported by Jon Elwell.

MARINElife at Weymouth & Portland's Spirit of the Sea Festival: Fri 8th - Sun 10th July 2011

MARINElife will be attending Weymouth & Portland's Spirit of the Sea Festival this weekend - why not pop down to meet us and find out more about the marine mammals and seabirds that can be seen in Lyme Bay and the surrounding South West coast.

Where to find us:

Friday 8th & Saturday 9th July 2011

MARINElife will be on Weymouth seafront by the kings statue all day.

Sunday 10th July 2011

MARINElife will be in Portland at the 'Save the Lerret' all day.

Visit the Spirit of the Sea Festival website for more information.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

4TH JULY 2011
Cornwall, Lands End
3 Harbour Porpoise at 3pm seen feeding at Lands End. Sighting reported by Kathryn Driscoll.

Lyme Bay, up to 32nm SW of West Bay
Another good day for sightings including 1 Ocean Sunfish, 98 Guillemot, 19 Manx Shearwater, 17 Fulmar, 11 Kittiwake, 2 European Storm Petrel, 2 Common Tern, 1 Great Skua, 1 Puffin and 1 Common Sandpiper amongst the usual seabird species. 6 White-beaked Dolphin put on a tantalising display, breaching several times at distance but moved on, disappearing from sight despite our efforts. Sightings recorded during a MARINElife dedicated photo-ID survey on board Huntress II, West Bay. Sea state 2 - 4, wind direction SE-E.

Guillemots

Lyme Bay
1 Ocean Sunfish observed 1/2 mile off Freshwater at 12:30pm. Sighting reported by Tony Smith, skipper of Christine Anne, West Bay.

2ND/3RD JULY 2011

Dorset, off White Nothe

10 Bottlenose Dolphin seen off White Nothe this weekend. Sighting reported by Ian Boid, skipper of T2, Weymouth White Water.

2ND JULY 2011

Cornwall, Lands End

50 Common Dolphin observed at 11.45am feeding for 1 hour. Gannets circling and diving in association. The dolphins were then seen travelling from Sennen Cove to East-Longships Lighthouse. Sighting reported by Kathryn Driscoll.

2ND JULY 2011
Cornwall, Black Head
1 Basking Shark (10ft long) observed at 10am 0.5 miles due East of Black Head. Sighting reported by Dan Gardner, skipper of Blue Pointer, Helford.

1ST JULY 2011

Lyme Bay, up to 30nm SW of West Bay

6-8 White-beaked Dolphin (including 2 juveniles) were encountered for 30 minutes bow-riding the survey boat, providing a great opportunity to take images for photo-identification. 1 Harbour Porpoise, 264 Guillemot, 18 Manx Shearwater, 7 Fulmar, 5 European Storm Petrel, 6 Shearwater species, 4 Puffin and 2 Razorbill were also recorded during a MARINElife dedicated photo-ID survey on board Channel Warrior, West Bay. Sea state 0-3, wind direction NE-NW.

West Sussex, Bracklesham Bay
1 Ocean Sunfish seen approx. 2 miles out from Bracklesham Bay. Sighting reported by Bumble, skipper of Trio III, Hayling Island/Eastney.