Common dolphin
WDCS-Greenpeace Expedition - Team Leader's Report: Day Thirteen - 23rd October 2002
The weather has improved and we set sail to the Small's. This is a little island off the Pembrokeshire coast. We have great visibility and near Ramsey we start to see out first porpoises. When we get to the Small's it proves indeed to be very small. In fact, the lighthouse looks bigger than the island. The island is simply a large rock, and I wonder how many ships must have got ship wrecked before the lighthouse was put there. There are so many little islands and rocks along the Pembroke coast that it is a dangerous place for ships. Afterall, it can be hard to see those rocks in rough seas or at night!
It proves to be a beautiful area as there are lots of gannets flying around and also a few guillemots can be seen. But, more interesting for us, we see common dolphins and rather a lot of porpoises! The common dolphins come along to bow ride but soon loose interest and seem to be heading off to get some lunch. We see gannets diving into the water in the distance and can just about see that the common dolphins are porpoising in that direction. One big feeding frenzy!
The weather gets worse in the afternoon (this seems to be very consistent during the last 2 weeks!) and we enjoy the stormy weather. But we keep on seeing more common dolphins and even porpoises. Although, the latter are very difficult to sight in the now very large waves.
We head for Cardiff where the ship will stay for the weekend. We will continue to travel overnight and the Bristol Channel is very rough. This weekend will be a busy one for us. As we will have open days, journalists will come aboard and there will be educational posters up for the public.
<< Day twelve Day nineteen>>
<< Back to day zero Skip to latest update >>
