22 Jan 26 - ORCA Canaries Cruise - Santander: An Unplanned Spanish Destination

During the days leading up to this trip, the ORCA team had been closely watching the sea conditions for the Saga Cape Verde and Canaries cruise. It was forecast to be a four to six metre swell as we crossed the Bay of Biscay, which shouldn't have been a big swell for the Spirit of Discovery to cope with. However, the swell on the Windy.com app changed from deep strawberry (up to six metres), to a pale pinkish-white colour (indicating an eight to ten metres swell) for the next leg past Portugal. This was more worrying as we couldn't see a route that would allow us to reach Madeira as planned. We couldn't see the Captain wanting to take the ship through those rougher seas. The initial welcome briefing from the Captain confirmed that the bridge team were seeing a similar picture. We had experienced heavy seas with all the outer decks closed on our first day at sea to the West of the Bay of Biscay, but at least we were heading South. I had a poor night of sleep as the motion of the ship increased and I was surprised that the motion had eased later in the final hours of darkness.

All became clear, when there was an unexpected announcement from the Captain during breakfast. The combination of the delay in our departure and losing additional time as we crossed the rough seas in the Bay of Biscay, meant we would be hitting those eight to ten metre swells off the Portuguese coast. Those seas were going to be too high and risky for some of the less agile passengers on the Spirit of Discovery. Consequently, the Captain had taken the decision to divert to a safe port. It hadn't been possible to get into Vigo or La Coruna on the North West corner of Spain, due to the swell in those ports. The next nearest port was Santander: about three hundred and fifty miles East of our route to Madeira. At this point, the chances of getting to Madeira, the two landings in Cape Verde and the three landings in the Canaries, all looked very uncertain. The Captain's initial plan was for one night in Santander, with a cunning plan to head to Vigo for the following night, which would get us to the North West corner of Spain.

Finally, we could see the Spanish coast: The sea conditions and wind were worse than these photos suggest

The top decks were still closed until we reached Santander due to the strength of the wind. However, by mid-morning, the very back of deck 10 had been opened. The back of deck 10 doesn't allow us to see the bows and while we can survey, the data we gather isn't as good as at the front of the ship. Still, we jumped at the opportunity to get on deck and start surveying. The sea had calmed a bit down from the previous day's sea state seven, which is too high to allow surveying. Unfortunately, we didn't see any Cetaceans and only had a scattering of Gannets. The sea conditions slowly eased as we got closer to the Spanish coast and we started to see the first Yellow-legged Gulls and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. We finally arrived at the pilot station early afternoon and soon after we were tied up.

By mid-morning, the back of deck 10 had been opened: This allowed us to get a couple of hours of surveying in before lunch as the swell calmed down a bit

Following the Captain's announcement about diverting to Santander, there was a request for the ORCA team to host a couple of one hour drop-in sessions each day on sea days at 13:00 and 17:00, respectively. It was a good opportunity for passengers to come and ask one of the members of the ORCA team questions. Normally, we have plenty of opportunity for this on deck and during meals in the upper restaurant. However, the upper deck restaurant was still closed and we had been asked to eat in our cabins due to the sea conditions. Chris had a couple of talks he had given before for ORCA and with an hour's notice, Chris was lined up to give the first of these two talks. Fortunately, he is an ex-teacher and was comfortable with public speaking at short notice. Both of the talks went well.

Passengers arriving for the first of Chris's talks on "The challenges of being a Whale in the 21st Century"

As it had been a last minute request to head to the port, the port authorities were not prepared for around eight hundred passengers and some crew wanting to go ashore. The Saga office team and ship were busily negotiating to allow the passengers to go ashore, as well as, trying to book tours for the passengers. But first the port had to bring in enough passport control and security teams to allow us to go ashore. By the end of the afternoon, a further update from the Captain had confirmed that Saga had agreed with the port authorities that we could go ashore the following morning and the passengers could book on some local coach tours of Santander, that Saga had arranged.

Our arrival into a miserable-looking Santander: However, it would have been a lot worse in the heavy seas off Portugal

I've visited Santander on a few occasions as an ORCA surveyor on the Brittany Ferries Plymouth route. This route has a fast turn around and there is only a few hours to grab an ice cream and coffee and wander around the immediate port area. Last Autumn, I travelled on the Brittany Ferries Portsmouth route, which allowed us the morning in Santander to explore more of the lovely seafront and the Maritime Museum and Aquarium.

The overnight rain hadn't cleared as we got up: However, it finally cleared after breakfast

As we had the day in Santander, I decided I would explore more of the seafront and walk out to Magdalena Peninsula which would be a good five mile walk. I set off along the waterfront where there is plenty to see.

The Santander Bank building: Good to see they are spending the money they make from my bank account wisely

The Spirit of Discovery and one of the Brittany Ferries in the background

An old cannon on the waterfront

This Black Redstart was feeding in a small area of lawn with a few small trees on the waterfront: It is the same gibraltariensis subspecies that we see in the UK, which occurs throughout Europe, Turkey and Northern Africa

White Wagtail: This is the nominate alba subspecies of Pied Wagtail

This monument remembers the street kids who would dive off the quayside for small coins thrown by wealthy passengers

A monument to the Merchant Marine Sailors

After passing the Maritime Museum and Aquarium, I reached the extensive beaches on the way to the Magdalena Peninsula. These beaches are typically busy in the Summer. Today, I had them to myself, apart from the occasional dog walker. It was disappointing that there were no Sanderlings running up or down the beach.

There is a nearly a mile of nice-looking beaches

Playa de Los Bikinis: Apparently, it took the locals some time in conservative Spain to get use to tourists in bikinis and this beach is still known as the Beach of the Bikinis

Finally, I reached the Pine covered Magdalena Peninsula. This sixty-nine acres headland is dominated by the Palacio de la Magdalena, an ex-royal Summer residence of the Spanish Royal Family. It was built between 1909 and 1911 and was used by the Royal Family until the declaration of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931. After that time, it became a university site until it was sold in 1977 to the City of Santander. It is still used as a conference centre, set within a public park.

The Palacio de la Magdalena

Can anybody else remember the Seventies game Pick Up Sticks

The Faro de Mouro Lighthouse: The seas still look angry. However, I've seen photos online of the waves breaking over the top of the lighthouse, so it can get a lot worse

A futuristic Butterfly sculpture

Continuing around the headland, the next major site is the Man and the Sea Museum, which is an open-air exhibition paying tribute to the nine expeditions carried out between 1966 and 1992 by the Santander-born navigator Vital Alsar Ramirez.

The Man and the Sea Museum

This is a replica of the wooden raft with Ramirez used to cross the Pacific in 1970

The three galleons that Ramirez used in his Round the World trip which started in 1980. They are replicas of the galleons Pinta, Nina and Santa Maria, that Columbus used on his crossing of the Atlantic. The La Marigalante is the replica of the Santa Maria

ORCA surveys have yet to sight a real Mermaid: This was a figurehead from the galleon La Marigalante

Ramirez dragged this experimental rescue capsule for seven thousand miles behind one of the galleons to prove volunteers could survive in it

Turnstones: The only Wader species I saw in Santander

Turnstones

Not a good day to go into the sea

The main beach on the Northern side of Santander

The Faro de Cabo Mayor Lighthouse on the next headland

I had enjoyed exploring the Magdalena Peninsula, but it was time to head back to the ship for a late lunch.

The walk back passed by some impressive houses

The Palacio el Promontorio

It is an ORCA tradition to pop into one of the Santander heladeria for an ice cream. I was disappointed to find the regular ORCA heladeria was closed. Fortunately, I was able to backtrack and try out one I hadn't visited before.

Disaster: The regular heladeria was closed

There are always a good selection of flavours to choose from

It is important to respect some traditions

Chris gave the second of his talks on Whale Songs around mid-afternoon

There was a late afternoon coach tour around Santander and we decided to give it a try after Chris's talk. First stop was a drive around on the Magdalena Peninsula, before continuing to close to the headland next to the Faro de Cabo Mayor Lighthouse. We were allowed time for a short walk and photo session here.

The Faro de Cabo Mayor Lighthouse

It had been a good day and I had enjoyed exploring Santander. That evening the Captain gave an update saying that we would be spending another three nights in Santander. Consequently, the planned section for the Spirit of Discovery to visit Porto Grande and Porto da Praia in Cape Verde had been cancelled due to the ongoing Portuguese storms. These exceptional storms had disrupted a lot of cruise ships and other vessels on both sides of the Atlantic. The ship was offering to rerun the same Santander coach trips and a trip to Bilboa on the following day. I spent the evening working on a more cunning plan which I will cover in the next Blog Post.

23 May 26 - Signs Of Spring Part 15 - Black-tailed Skimmer

One of the signs of Spring I enjoy is when I see the first old friends in the year. In this case, I had already seen a female Black-tailed Skimmer a few days earlier at Studland, but today's Blog Post features the first individual I managed to photograph in 2026.

Black-tailed Skimmer: Female. Brands Bay, Studland

20 Jan 26 - ORCA Canaries Cruise - The Sign Of Things To Come

At the back end of the 2025, I was offered an experienced surveyor place in the ORCA team on the Saga cruise to Cape Verde and the Canaries on the Spirit of Discovery. I met Chris Whitell, the Team Leader, and Fiona West, the Wildlife Officer, in Pompey on 19 Jan. Unfortunately, our fourth team member had dropped out at the last moment. However, we all felt that we would be able to cope with the surveying for Cetaceans and passenger engagement with a team of three. I arrived at lunchtime at the time we had been advised by the ORCA office. My arrival was greeted by one of the Saga team with the statement "you are early". Apparently, the Spirit of Discovery had arrived three hours late into port, due to bad weather and our departure was delayed by a similar time.

Myself, Fiona West and Chris Whitell (26 Jan 26)

Chris and Fiona were already there and the Saga team quickly allowed us onto the ship. The unflappable Saga team coped excellently with the delayed timings. A couple of hours later, the passengers who had been advised of the later departure, started boarding and we were allowed into our cabins. After going through the mandatory safety drill, we headed off to dinner as the ship left Pompey about 19:00.

Wave Knight (A389): Having worked on software packages on the Type 42 Destroyers in the Pompey dockyard back in the mid to late 80s, I always enjoy looking at what Royal Navy ships I can see in the harbour

The news that evening from the Captain wasn't sounding hopeful for surveying. He told us all the upper decks, the deck 12 restaurant and the upper deck Britannia lounge would all be closed from 23:00 due to the weather, as we were expecting four to five metre swells overnight. It was certainly a bumpy first night at sea. The predicted swell looked pretty accurate as it got light. It didn't really matter too much that the upper decks were closed, as the sea state was close to being a sea state 7: at which point we stop surveying as we would miss most sightings. It was clear that it had been a wise move to close these decks as there would have been a risk that some of the less agile passengers could have fallen. Fortunately, there are also two lower decks which have restaurant and lounge areas, as well as, the playhouse theatre. At the introductory meeting with the ORCA team and the other entertainers, we were told that we would be expected to eat in the cabins when the upper deck restaurant was closed. Normally, the ORCA team are not allowed to book room service, but room service was to become the norm for the ORCA team on sea days to allow the other passengers priority in the lower restaurants.

Historical tower: The dockyard has historical buildings that would probably have been demolished in a commercial dockyard

Chris and I looked out from the cabin balcony at various times during the morning, but there were only the occasional Gannets and Kittiwakes flying past. In between, I spent the morning producing a slide about Gannets. As a team, we have to produce a daily slide, which is displayed on the ship's TV system for the passengers on our sightings. Due to the weather, a Gannet might be the most likely species the passengers would see from their cabin windows.

The Spirit of Adventure is the sister ship of the Spirit of Discovery

At the end of the morning, we were told that the outer deck of deck 6 would be briefly opened to allow us to see the Spirit of Adventure doing a close sail by. She is the identical sister ship of the Spirit of Discovery. It was an opportunity for some of the passengers and myself to enjoy a brief period of fresh air.

Fiona starting her overview of the importance of the surveying data that ORCA collects

Apart from our time on deck, one of the key activities for the ORCA team is the initial and final lectures. These are given by the Wildlife Officer on the first and final afternoons of the trip. The first lecture is a good opportunity to introduce the ORCA team, provide some information about the importance of the surveying that the Marine Mammal Surveyors gather and how it is used to improve protection for Cetaceans. It is also an opportunity to highlight some of the Cetacean species we might see during the trip.

Fiona's slide of potential Cetacean species that we could see

It had been a disappointing first day at sea with no opportunity for surveying, but we had managed to engage with a number of the passengers.

14 Dec 25 - Patagonia 25 - A Long Drive South

After spending the morning exploring dirt tracks to the South of Chasico on my Pampas Meadowlark quest, I finally got back onto tarmac roads near to Bahia Blanca. It was now lunchtime and I had a four hundred and fifty mile drive South to Trelew for the lunchtime flight on the following day. Fortunately, it was a good and generally quiet highway. I made a quick stop at a salt lake near to Bahia Blanca, which hosted a large flock of over two hundred and fifty Baird's Sandpipers.

Baird's Sandpiper

A few miles after the salt lake, there was a roadside pool with a reasonable selection of Waterbirds to make it worth a quick stop.

Chilean Flamingo: This is the widespread Flamingo in South America and the monotypic species occurs from the Andes of the South of South America to South Brazil & South Argentina

Coscoroba Swan: This monotypic species occurs from South Brazil to Paraguay, Uruguay, Tierra del Fuego & the Falkland Islands

Black-necked Stilt: This is the melanurus subspecies which occurs from inland central Peru & Bolivia to South East Brazil, South-central Chile & Argentina

The next stop was around Parque Eolico Villalonga, which is a wind farm about sixty miles North of Viedma. This was a local eBird hotspot for Hellmayr's Pipit around the wind farm. There must be an engineer who sees them there. I spent about thirty minutes looking in the wider area, but I drew a blank. Time was pressing and I needed to continue South. My final stop was for a roadside comfort break when I was back in the arid habitat near San Antonio Oeste. This is similar habitat to Las Grutas. There were a few Birds around, including my final Tick of the Argentinian trip: a Tufted Tit-spinetail. I nipped back to the car for the camera, but I couldn't relocate it when I returned to look for it.

Brown-hooded Gull: There were a few Brown-hooded Gulls in the garage the following morning. They breed in inland & coastal South East Brazil, central Chile & Argentina South to Tierra del Fuego & the Falkland Islands

I continued driving South until dusk, when I was about sixty miles North of Puerto Rawson. I found another large garage to park up in for the night. It was an early start on the following morning to get to the Commerson's Dolphin rib office, in case they were planning on going to sea. Unfortunately, they were closed up again. I spent a couple of hours exploring the coastline for Commerson's Dolphins with no success.

The big Dinosaur was still showing well on the edge of Trelew

My final Birding stop was Laguna Chiquichano in Trelew. There were some eBird records for Red-crested Cardinal, which I've only seen as introductions in Hawaii. I didn't have any success. It was time to head to the airport to return the car and check in for my flight back to Buenos Aires.

Laguna Chiquichano

This was a great display to see at the airport: Albeit the live moggie that was curled up in the display area looked unrealistic

The Jet Smart flight left on time for Buenos Aires and it was a good flight back. The only snag was the Trelew flights were from the domestic airport, which had worked well with the flight back from Ushuaia, but I needed to get a coach back to the international airport on the far side of the city. Thanks to the traffic it was a slow journey. Once at the international airport, I arranged a pick up from the owner of the private house, that I had stayed with on my first night in Argentina. The following morning, I was dropped back at the international airport for the flight back to the UK. It had been a great trip.

The Club de Pescadores building is at the start of a long pier: You pass this interesting building as you arrive or depart the domestic airport

In hindsight, I should probably have considered staying in Argentina for another ten days and trying to catch up with a few more species that I had missed on my first Argentinian trip in 1998. But that would have made it an even more expensive trip, so perhaps the short Patagonian dash was the right move.