In early evening on the previous day, I met up with the Team Leader Neil Best, Judith Brown & Chloe Figueroa Ashworth at the Brittany Ferry terminal in Plymouth for an ORCA survey on the ferry Armorique to Roscoff. As the ferry left Plymouth in the dark, I ran through the survey briefing and then we headed off to get some sleep.
There was a wakeup call at 06:00 UK time to let the passengers know we would be docking in an hour. It was only a few minutes before the cabin alarm was due to go off anyway. Time for a quick cuppa of tea, before Neil & I met up with Judith & Chloe. We were quickly off the ship & through customs with plenty of time to explore Roscoff.
Roscoff is my favourite of the Brittany ferry destinations as it's a lovely-looking town. It took us about twenty-five minutes to walk into the centre: slowed down a bit by a few photographs.
We took the coastal footpath to the town centre which took us past the delightful Chapelle Sainte-Barbe.
I was pleased to see the Cafe Ty Pierre, that I had visited on my previous visit in May 23, was open. Time for a leisurely French breakfast of fresh baguettes, a croissant, orange juice & a large coffee.
Having had a filling breakfast, it was time to have a walk around the old town and some of the beaches.
The Ile de Batz lies just offshore of the town and must help to protect the harbour.
We were expecting it to be cloudy & perhaps wet, so sunny conditions with clear skies and no wind were a bonus. Albeit given the time of year, I knew this nice weather wouldn't last. Sadly, I was proved right as clouds had drifted in on a Northerly breeze by late morning.
As we walked back we bumped into the Station Biologique de Roscoff. It is a marine biology & oceanography research teaching centre, which was founded in 1872. It is part of the Sorbonne University & is affiliated to the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.
We arrived back at the ferry terminal with plenty of time before we were called to reboard the ferry. It was time to get ready to start the surveying. It proved to be a good survey. I saw over one hundred and twenty-five Short-beaked Common Dolphins out of over one hundred and fifty-four individuals. After crossing to the UK side of the Channel, I saw the singles of Cory's Shearwater and Great Shearwater, as well as, a couple of Bonxies, but there were no more Dolphins. Unfortunately, it was dark around an hour before we reached the Plymouth South breakwater. This last hour is usually good for Cetaceans, but without luminous markings, it was time to leave the bridge.
I would like to thank to Brittany Ferries for allowing the ORCA survey team onboard the Armorique and to the bridge crew for making us welcome. Also, thanks to Neil, Judith and Chloe for making it a memorable survey.
