13 Jun 26 - From The Biggest To The Smallest Expedition Cruise Day 4 - Visiting Shetland

The fourth day of the North Atlantic Odyssey saw us approaching the Shetland Islands. The original plan was to visit Fair Isle. I was looking forward to finally setting foot on this hallowed turf. Sadly it wasn't to be, as the harbour was being renovated and was closed to landings. Plan B was to visit Foula in West Shetland, but again that wasn't possible as the locals were advising it might be too rough to land there, due to a high Atlantic swell. Plan C was viable and it was to land on the island of Noss: one of the East Shetland Islands. Landing wasn't a problem as being on the East side of the islands, Noss was sheltered from the Atlantic swell. But it was further to sail from Aberdeen and we wouldn't arrive until late morning. This allowed time for some Seabird and Cetacean watching from one of the bridge wings.

Gannet: This looks like a First Summer individual, as the black of the wings extends all the way to the mantle, there is a lot of black in the rump and it has a pale head. A Second Winter individual will look similar, but Second Summers will have white inner wing coverts and there will be more white feathers in the rump

Bonxie: As we got closer to the Shetland Islands, we started to encounter Bonxies flying past the ship, but none were close

The distinctive shape of Noss appeared on the horizon: Noss has high cliffs on its East side which drop down to a low height to the West

A closer photo of Noss

There was a large feeding flock of Gannets at the base of the sea cliffs: Sadly, we couldn't see any Cetaceans with them

Finally, we were entering the bay by Noss and dropping anchor. During this final approach, I briefly saw some distant Dolphins, but I wasn't able to figure out what they were as I quickly lost them and we carried on sailing past them.

We sailed past the cliffs on the East side of Noss before swinging into the bay on the North side: Just to the West of the final position of the Plancius is the larger island of Bressay

This building is the office for the NatureScot team who manage Noss: Visitors can visit in the Summer by taking a short boat ride from neighbouring Bressay. We were to doing a zodiac landing on the rocky landing site

The zodiacs were dropped into the water

Looking across to neighbouring Bressay

Bonxie: This Bonxie was sitting on the water as we prepared to drop anchor

At the last minute, I decided to stay on the Plancius, when the call to go ashore came. I wasn't too bothered about landing on Noss, whereas I would have definitely gone ashore on Fair Isle or Foula. I grabbed the scope and a hot drink and went back on the top deck for a few hours to try relocating the unidentified Dolphins. But they were too far away from our anchorage and I couldn't find them. After a bit of searching, I did find a few distant Harbour Porpoises between Noss and the neighbouring island of Bressay: another Cetacean for my trip list. There were a few Arctic Terns flying by, but always a bit too far for reasonable photos.

Arctic Tern

Arctic Tern

With everybody back on board, it was time to head North. Jan decided we would have a pre-dinner cruise past the Eastern cliffs of Noss, before turning North. About ten minutes after we left the anchorage, we encountered a pod of four Risso's Dolphins. Presumably, this was the unidentified Dolphins we had briefly seen as we arrived. Risso's Dolphins generally don't interact with ships, unlike Bottlenose Dolphins, which are also likely to be in these waters.

Risso's Dolphin: This looks to be a large, bulky Dolphin with a large dorsal fin

Risso's Dolphin: It also looks typically broad-bodied in this photo. However, it's also looks quite dark, but immature Risso's Dolphins are much darker than the adults

Risso's Dolphin: This is obviously a Risso's Dolphin with the pale markings and the scarring on the body

Risso's Dolphin: Starting to dive

Risso's Dolphin: Finally, the tail appeared

Risso's Dolphin: The front part of the body looks bulky

Risso's Dolphin: This individual has a distinctive scar just ahead and below the dorsal fin. It was partly visible in the earlier photos

Risso's Dolphin: They have a high swept-backed dorsal fin

After about ten minutes with the Risso's Dolphins, we carried on towards the Gannet cliffs.

This is just part of Gannet colony on the East Cliffs

A closer photo of part of the Gannet colony: I'm glad I don't have to count the nesting Gannets. It should be possible to photograph the colony and to try to merge the photos to allow the Gannets to be counted. However, ignoring the second individual when both of a pair of Gannets are present in the photo and the non-breeding near Adult Gannets hanging around the colony, will be trickier

It was impossible to count the numbers of Gannets pairs in the Gannet colony on the Eastern cliffs of Noss. My guestimate was ten thousand, which was surprisingly close and just one hundred and eighty-six pairs short of the 2025 count. It was an impressive colony.

Gannet: This looks like another First Summer individual

Puffin

Just after we turned North, we received the call to dinner. After dinner I returned to the one of the bridge wings. On most days, we had a few Fulmars enjoying the slipstream of the Plancius. I'm assuming they enjoy the same effect that professional cyclists get by staying in the slipstream and it saves they flying energy. Every now and then, one would cruise along the length of the ship and appear very close to the bridge wing. As I was generally looking forward, I wouldn't spot the close approach of the Fulmars until it was too late to react to get some photos. Finally, I managed to get some photos of one individual coming past.

Fulmar enjoying the slipstream

Fulmar

Fulmar: A close crop from the last photo, showing why they are part of the Seabird group called Tubenoses

The evening was fairly quiet as we sailed up the East side of the Shetland Islands. The highlights were another pod of three Risso's Dolphins and a Minke Whale, as well as, small numbers of the same Seabirds we had already seen.

Minke Whale: A typical Minke Whale that I picked up at long range, which showed again as we got closer to it, before quickly disappearing

The Out Skerries Lighthouse on the island of Bound Skerry: Afterwards we passed Yell and Unst, but they were too far away for any reasonable photos

When I got back into the Observation Lounge, I found that the Assistant Expedition Leader Chloe, has set up a microscope and was introducing the passengers to her new find, a Water Bear or Tardigrade. Chloe's real passion is plankton and other micro-organisms. Water Bears are not the smallest of in this diverse group of organisms, but are surprisingly fascinating. They occur in diverse habitats including: the deep sea, fresh water, Tropical rainforests, mountain tops and Antarctica. Depending on the species, they can vary in size from 0.05 to 0.5 mm. This was the smallest organism I saw on the expedition.

Water Bear: Chloe found this Water Bear in a very small sample of weed she found on Noss and it was fun to watch it moving around as it headed for a small bit of weed to feed on

They are among the most resilient Animals known. Scientists have shown they can survive severe conditions including exposure to extreme temperatures, extreme high or low pressures, air deprivation, dehydration, radiation and starvation. They have even survived exposure to outer space. Chloe said she had a pet Water Bear at home and typically allowed it to dry out when she was going away and would rehydrate it again when she got home after a few weeks at sea. Clearly, when a large asteroid eventually hits the Earth and we have another Dinosaur-like mass extinction, the Water Bears will just shrug their shoulders and carry on surviving, as they have done for the last five hundred million years.

Water Bear: A chart showing an artistic impression of a Water Bear. She was the only person on board who maintained the Polar Bears we saw later in Svalbard, were only the second best Bears of the trip

It was time for bed, so I could enjoy an early start in the seas as we sailed North from the Shetland Islands to Jan Mayen Island.

12 Jun 26 - From The Biggest To The Smallest Expedition Cruise Day 3 - The Bullers Of Buchan

The Plancius docked in Aberdeen about breakfast time, to allow more passengers joining us that afternoon. Oceanwide Expeditions had laid some activities for the passengers who had joined in Vlissingen. We spent the morning with some lovely Grey Seal encounters at the Ythan estuary, before heading onto the Seabirds cliffs at the Bullers of Buchan. We were dropped in the car park and it was only a few minutes' walk to the cliffs and the two sheltered coves.

There were a few fisherman's cottages next to the coves

There were two narrow channels, where the sea had cut deep into the coastline and therefore, it was possible to view the Seabird colony from the North or South sides or a narrow central ridge. I chose the latter option. There was a good selection of East Scottish Seabirds nesting on the cliffs.

Looking across the Northern channel

Looking across the Southern channel

The majority of the passengers headed to the Northern path

Ellen was one of the Inezia Bird guides

There was a good selection of East Scottish Seabirds nesting on the cliffs.

Fulmar: Pair

Eider: Pair

Razorbill

Razorbill and Kittiwake colony

There was a Puffin above the Kittiwake nests

A harsh crop of the same Puffin

We had an American couple Nick and Catherine on board. Catherine, said that morning that her main target was to see a Puffin. I was surprised by this given the likelihood of seeing Blue Whales and Polar Bears on the trip. Having found this Puffin, I looked round and Catherine was the nearest passenger and was delighted to see her first Puffin. She would have been the first passenger to see her number one target on the trip and after sightings of a number of other species, she fortunately, wasn't the last happy passenger.

Catherine is in the pink: Svalbard (27 Jun 26)

Puffin: There were a few pairs of Puffins nesting at the very top of the colony

Puffin

I spent some time trying to get some photos of the Kittiwakes. The nesting individuals weren't hard, but trying to get flight shots was more challenging.

Kittiwake nests

Kittiwake: Adult

Kittiwake: Adult

Kittiwake: Adult

After about ninety minutes at the cliffs, it was time to head back to the coaches. It was time to return to Aberdeen and reboard the Plancius. I will cover our departure in the next Blog Post.

17 Aug 23 - A Grand Day Out: Part Two

In the previous Blog Post, I covered the seawatching from the Scillonian on the crossing from Penzance to St Mary's on the Red-footed Booby twitch. It had been a successful crossing with good numbers of Cory's Shearwaters and a few Great Shearwaters. I was really hoping for a Pterodroma Petrel or a Scopoli's Shearwater, but I hadn't been that lucky. Still on a positive, the Birders at the back of the Scillonian hadn't found any either.

We arrived at St Mary's on time & we were quick to join a handful of Birders who were already on the inter-island boat that would take us to the Bishop Rock Lighthouse. It seemed to take a long time to finally get going, but finally we were off. We were briefly joined by two Bottlenose Dolphins after we had left St Agnes, but sadly they didn't stick around for photos.

Heading out to the Bishop Rock Lighthouse

The Bishop Rock Lighthouse: Complete with a Red-footed Booby on the top

Twenty-five minutes after leaving the harbour, we were approached the Bishop Rock Lighthouse. The boat's ticket collector said he thought he could see a Bird sitting on the top of the lighthouse platform. I was struggling with the bins in the choppy seas & switched to the camera. A quick look at the back of the camera & I was able to shout "It's on the right by the antenna".

Red-footed Booby: I've got about one hundred photos of Red-footed Boobies from the Pacific & Atlantic and this is clearly the worst that I've kept. But it was the moment I knew the gamble has paid off

Red-footed Booby: It was preening for almost all the time we were there. While, this wasn't great for photos, it was endlessly better than the other option of trying to locate it while it was off fishing

Red-footed Booby: Did somebody ask "If there was a Cormorant on the top of the lighthouse"?

Red-footed Booby: I like this photo of it have a crafty look at us

Red-footed Booby: The nominate sula subspecies breeds on islands in the Caribbean, Belize, Honduras, Venezuela, Brazil & Ascension Island

After the best part of an hour around the Bishop Rock Lighthouse, we agreed we had had our fill of the Red-footed Booby. The boatman took a circuitous route back which allowed us to see a handful of Cory's Shearwaters. I checked all the ones I saw & none were Scopoli's Shearwater candidates.

Fulmar: We saw this Fulmar and a few distant Cory's Shearwaters on the journey back to Hugh Town

Fulmar

We arrived back into Hugh Town, with barely enough time to have a look at one of the local Birding spots like Lower Moors. So I settled on a celebratory lunch & a coffee in one of the cafes, before heading back to get on the Scillonian.

Hugh Town Beach

The yellow boat is the island's ambulance boat

St Mary's Lifeboat Station

Portmellon Beach: Another part of the view over the Hugh Town beaches that I never get bored looking at

We left a few minutes early and took the route through the islands. We saw the first Cory's Shearwaters while we were still off the Northern end of St Mary's. In total, I saw forty-two Cory's Shearwaters on the crossing back: all around the Scilly Isles. At the time, all the ones I checked with the bins or the camera looked to be Cory's Shearwaters.

Cory's Shearwater: This clearly is a Cory's Shearwater

Cory's Shearwater: Another individual

Cory's Shearwater: Another view of the previous individual

However, while I was sorting the photos, this Large Shearwater caught my eye as a potential Scopoli's Shearwater candidate. It was in the background to a closer bog-standard Cory's in these five photos. It was taken as we were heading back to Penzance. The timestamp is 15:41 GMT & we were about fifteen minutes out of the harbour, as we left a few minutes earlier than scheduled. We were off the Northern end of St Mary's, when he encountered a party of Cory's Shearwaters, which included this individual. I would welcome any thoughts on what species it was.

Interesting Large Shearwater: Cory's Shearwater or Scopoli's Shearwater?

Interesting Large Shearwater: Cory's Shearwater or Scopoli's Shearwater?

Interesting Large Shearwater: Cory's Shearwater or Scopoli's Shearwater?

Interesting Large Shearwater: Cory's Shearwater or Scopoli's Shearwater?

Interesting Large Shearwater: Cory's Shearwater or Scopoli's Shearwater?

I've just had this feedback from the legandary Bob Flood after I forwarded these photos to him "This is an interesting bird with much white the under primaries, but crucially not p10. So, I am afraid that it doesn't meet current ID criteria". So, it isn't a Scopoli's Shearwater. Clearly I need to keep looking.

More straight-forward to identify were three Sooty Shearwaters.

Sooty Shearwater: This was one of three Sooty Shearwaters seen on the way back to Penzance

As we left the Scilly Isles, I saw four Risso's Dolphins, made up of a couple of individuals, followed by two single individuals. I also saw another ten Short-beaked Common Dolphin, mainly ones or twos. All the sightings were long enough to identify with the bins, but too short to stand a view to a chance at some reasonable photos.

Short-beaked Common Dolphin: This was the only photo I managed to get all day, despite seeing twenty-four individuals & even then it was only the back end of the body. They just weren't showy today

As we reached the Cornish coast we started seeing Manx Shearwaters again, hugging the coast and heading for Land's End. It was impossible to count them & still scan for other species, Cetaceans & Seals. I estimated I saw over two thousand, but a focused count would have probably revealed this was a significant undercount.

Grey Seal: This Grey Seal popped up as we were passing Mousehole and it was the last new sighting

Grey Seal: It popped up a second time to show its head

It had been a long, but very enjoyable day, which started when the alarm rang at 02:00. We docked around 19:00, but there was a delay before we could finally get ashore. After a refuelling stop, I headed off to a chippy by the Hayle. I finally got home about 23:30.