Nearly Home

Today started perfectly, light winds, small swell and plenty of sunshine. No sooner had I got to the crows nest then a group of 8 pilot whales appeared just off the starboard side of the ship. There were 6 adults and 2 calves in the group. With my first sighting of the day coming so early I took it as a sign that it was going to be a busy day sightings wise. I was wrong.

With the weather almost perfect it was a pity there wasn’t more activity during the day. The birds were present in slightly higher numbers than over the past few days. A few Fulmars and Gannets circled the boat during the day. We also passed two groups of Shearwaters and a lone Great Skua which was heading east shortly after lunch.

We were to stop at the Marine Institutes M6 weather buoy to carry out some repairs just after dinner. As the M6 weather buoy is located near the shelf edge it would provide a good opportunity for sightings. As I was leaving the crows nest I could see it in the distance and then saw a few blows well off but in the same area. They disappeared as quickly as they had appeared and after 15 minutes I could no longer see them so I ran down to the mess thinking I would be back up by the time we got to the buoy. No sooner had I a plate in my hand than word came down from the bridge that they could see blows again so I went back up to the crows nest. What followed was a fantastic two hours of watching 6 Sperm whales and 2 Fin whales feeding and swimming in the area of the buoy.  It was great to spend so much time with them while the crew were carrying out the repairs. It was hard to keep track of them all as they keep disappearing in one area and then appearing off somewhere else.  We started off again once the repairs were complete and I finally got my dinner that Jimmy had kept out. Thankfully! Hopefully this was a sign of things to come as we make our way into Castletownbere tomorrow evening.

Fin Whale (Paddy O'Dwyer)

Pilot Whale (Paddy O'Dwyer)