11 Jun 26 - From The Biggest To The Smallest Expedition Cruise Day 2 - The English North Sea

The first day of the North Atlantic Odyssey saw us off the East Anglian coast and sailing North, past Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Northumberland.

We had crossed to the UK side of the North Sea to pass up the West side of the Dogger Bank: There was a Westerly wind and the crew also said that the seas would be more comfortable on the English side. The swell was pretty light

Welcome to my home on sea days, albeit I would swap to the starboard bridge wing if the wind or glare made that a better location: I occasionally could be found in the restaurant at meal times, at the tea and coffee machines and attending mandatory briefings

With the mild temperatures and light seas, some of the passengers were watching from the lower decks

Two of my cabin mates: Luc (with the hat) and Joris

Our route to Aberdeen, where we would be joined by the rest of the British passengers: I was the only Brit who had decided to travel to Vlissingen to join the Plancius

I hadn't realised how cluttered the North Sea coast was.

This wind farm dwarfed this fishing boat: The wind farm off the Brighton coast is providing protected areas for Fish to breed and perhaps this fishing boat is taking advantage of a similar level of protection helping fish stocks by this wind farm

One of the oil platform complexes we passed

This is part of the York gas field: It's a natural gas reservoir and production facility that is about twenty miles off the Yorkshire coast

Bird wise it was fairly quiet, with a few typical Seabirds. It got busier as we passed Bempton Cliffs, but we were well outside the twelve mile territorial limits and thus we missed many of the numbers of Seabirds we would have seen had we been closer to the land.

Gannet

Gannet: The scattered black feathering indicates this is a fourth year individual

Kittiwake: Adults

As we passed the Lincolnshire coast, we saw a number of Grey Seals. Not surprising given the decent-sized colonies at beaches like Donna Nook.

Grey Seal

I was generally running the ORCA Oceanwatchers app at sea to record Cetacean and Marine Mammal sightings. At least, the Grey Seals meant it wasn't an empty day, as I only saw brief views of a lone unidentified Dolphin during the day.

Grey Seal: On views like this, they can be separated from Common Seals by having parallel nostrils

There was a good sunset at the end of the evening. Something we weren't going to see again after we left Shetland.

It was a good sunset

Zooming into the sunset with the big camera and under-exposing the photos produced some interesting post-apocalypse images

I do like these zoomed-in photos of sunsets

It had been a good first day at sea and it allowed me the time to get to know many of the Dutch and Belgium Birders on the Plancius. The next day we were due in Aberdeen to pick up another seventeen, many British, passengers.

10 Jun 26 - From The Biggest To The Smallest Expedition Cruise Day 1 - Departing from Vlissingen

In Oct 25, I gave up on trying to book onto Oceanwide Expeditions' 2026 Atlantic Odyssey expedition cruise. Having completed the Atlantic Odyssey in 2018, it is still one of my all time favourite foreign trips and I was keen to rerun the route, but I wanted to complete it on my favourite ship, Plancius. That wasn't possible in 2025 as the Atlantic Odyssey was being run on Hondius. When I looked at the options in Oct 26, all the four berth bunks were booked (as they had been a year earlier). I gave up on the idea which in hindsight was an excellent decision as Oceanwide Expeditions switched the ship to their larger Hondius soon after. Had I been able to book, I would have insisted on my booking being deferred to a year when they were running the Atlantic Odyssey on Plancius. In the end, it was good I hadn't been able to book, as that trip sadly turned into the Hantavirus trip.

Having given up on the Atlantic Odyssey option, I considered other options on the bucket list. Firstly, I booked on the excellent trip to Antarctica in Dec 25, where I successfully saw three Emperor Penguins and I enjoyed some amazing Orca encounters. Next I looked at the North Atlantic Odyssey which was being run on Plancius in 2026. A couple of hours after booking the Antarctica trip, I had also booked this trip, with the option to stay onboard for the first week in the Svalbard area. There was a nice discount on this extra week, but in reality it made sense to stay on and to maximise my chances of seeing Bowhead Whale, Polar Bears and the potential Seal Ticks. There were some good Seabirds to see as well, but to be honest, the highest placed Bird, Ivory Gull, was only number twelve on my trip's target list. Officially, I was booked on the North Atlantic Odyssey and Around Spitsbergen expedition cruises, but it will become obvious in future Blog Posts why I've renamed it as the 'From the Biggest to the Smallest Expedition Cruise'.

The Schiphol to Vlissingen train crosses many dykes: The Dutch are so much further ahead of the UK with onshore wind generation

The next decision was whether to join the Plancius in its home port of Vlissingen, Holland or Aberdeen. Logistically, it was a no-brainer as it was easier to fly to Amsterdam and catch the train from Schiphol Airport to Vlissingen, than to get to Aberdeen and then to try returning to wherever I left the car from Norway. It was only when I was in the North Sea that I also realised that choosing Vlissingen as the starting point, meant that I have sailed from the Northern Weddell Sea and Antarctic Peninsula all the way to the pack ice off Svalbard on the Plancius. I travelled from Ushuaia to Vlissingen in Mar - May 2018 and from Ushuaia to Antarctic in Jan 2023. I guess there aren't that many other passengers who can say that for this lovely ship.

The train went past plenty of low-lying wetland patches

I wanted to travel on Plancius as she is a fantastic ship for seeing Birds, Cetaceans and other Sealife, due to her old-fashioned bridge wings which are open, but with a glass panel over part of the wing which provides a bit of shelter in colder locations. The bridge wings allow clear views across the bows and are an excellent place for general photography. So many ships these days are designed with larger bridges, which do not have the same outside visibility. True other ships have other decks you can view from, however, these are also a lot more exposed in adverse weather and the generally lower height reduces the range you can see.

I'm assuming Dutch law states that any road scene has to have at least one cyclist in it

The other big bonus of Plancius is she is a very quiet ship and quickly able to stop and mill around, thus affording excellent close views of Whales without spooking them. I've now seen thirty-seven species of Cetacean from Plancius along this route. This is stunning forty percentage of the World's Cetaceans and there are still three species that I could have seen Cuvier's Beaked Whale, Southern Bottlenose Whale and Commerson's Dolphin: all of which should have been possible along parts of this route.

Crossing another dyke

I quickly booked some flights from Heathrow to Amsterdam for the day before the ship sailed and a hotel for the night in Vlissingen. Next I booked a flight from Longyearbyen in Svalbard back to Heathrow, via Oslo. One of the benefits of the internet is it is easy to organise the expedition cruise, flights, hotel and Heathrow car parking in a couple of hours online. That would have taken so much more effort in the old days when I started travelling. I was all ready to go, apart from having to wait about seven months for the Plancius to be ready to depart from Vlissingen. Seven months later I headed to Heathrow. My KLM flight departed on time, I collected my main bag without fuss and was quickly walking down the steps from the raised airport terminal to the train station below. Within fifteen minutes, I was on a train to Vlissingen. The journey was under three hours, including a change of trains along the way. Once in Vlissingen, I had a thirty minute walk to the uninspiring City2Beach Hotel. This proved to be an overpriced, small pokey room and good bathroom, which was let down with very steep and narrow steps (which weren't mentioned accurately on Booking.com).

The City2Beach hotel was overpriced and underwhelming: The steep and narrow hotel stairs (with no lift) were unmentioned on Booking.com and would have resulted in an immediate strong moan from my sister, potentially resulting in demands to move to an even more expensive hotel had she booked there. It wasn't easy getting my large, but not too heavy, bag up the stairs. It would have been impractical for less mobile guests with larger bags

The following morning I enjoyed my last lie-in: I knew I wouldn't get another one for the next three weeks or so. I didn't have to arrive at the train station to meet the Oceanwide Expeditions bus until 15:30. As I didn't have anything planned for the rest of the day, I started the thirty minute walk back to the train station about 11:00 at check-out time. Along the way, I remembered I had seen a sign for a historic ship, the Hr. Ms. Mercuur. This wooden minesweeper was launched in Jan 1953 and named Hr. Ms. Onverschrokken (M886). She and her sister ships were built in the USA and handed over to the Royal Dutch Navy in a Mutual Defence Assistance Program. She was reclassified as a headquarters-support ship for minesweepers squadrons in Jan 1969. After a major refix, she was redesignation as a torpedo work ship and renamed Hr. Ms. Mercuur in May 1973. After being decommissioned in 1987, she became a museum ship in 1992 until Dec 15. There was a threat of her being broken up, but fortunately, she was saved, cleaned up and moved to Vlissingen, where she opened as a museum ship in Sep 17.

Hr. Ms. Mercuur (A856): I wish I had remembered about this ship earlier in the day, so I could have had a look around without worrying about where to leave the bags. It will be on the list of things to do, if I return to Vlissingen

Hr. Ms. Mercuur (A856)

I was the first to arrive at the train station and slowly a few others appeared as trains arrived. One of the first to arrive was Christian and his partner Anna. I met Christian on the Atlantic Odyssey back in Spring 18. He stayed on for the Svalbard leg and moved into my four berth cabin for the final week around the islands. They also brought their friend Birgit, who joined the rest of my cabin for the first part of the trip at meal times. Finally, the Oceanwide Expeditions ground team arrived and started checking us onto the bus to take us to the nearly port where the Plancius was docked.

The Plancius looks very small compared to this massive pipe burying vessel, Rockpiper

The fourth berth cabin is compact: However, I only really need it for sleeping and the bathroom. My bunk was the bottom right bunk and was kept tidy, albeit with all the clothing and kit in it to allow for an emergency dash to the bridge wings when there was a shout for something good (as happened later in the trip). It wasn't ever a problem sharing with Luc, Kris and Joris who were tidy cabin mates during the first eleven days. This photo was taken during the Svalbard extension when some of my fellow cabin mates weren't as tidy as Luc, Kris and Joris (27 Jun 26)

After getting settled into the four berth cabin, it was time to head to the Observation Lounge for the first of several initial briefings from the Expedition Leader, Jan Belgers. Then the ship's First Officer took us through the emergency evacuation drill as we departed from Vlissingen.

An early briefing from our Expeditions Leader Jan on the plans for the next eleven days

The North Atlantic Odyssey: The route for the first eleven days was Vlissingen, Aberdeen, Noss (as we couldn't land at Foula), Jan Meyan, before arriving at Longyearbyen in Svalbard

It's good to see the safety briefing is taken seriously: This includes taking us to see the lifeboats

A later briefing introduced us to the rest of the Expeditions staff and it was a pleasure to see that Esther Josten and Jess Owen were on board for the next three weeks. I travelled with Esther to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctica in Jan 23 and with ex-ORCA Ocean Conservationist, Jess, on my return to Antarctica in Dec 25. I didn't know any of the other members of the Expedition team, but there was three weeks to get to know them. After completing the first of initial briefings and the safety briefing, we were allowed on deck to watch our departure from Vlissingen. It looks a nice waterfront and something else to explore if I get to return to Vlissingen.

Sailing along the Vlissingen waterfront

Sailing along the Vlissingen waterfront

Finally, the Pilot boat arrived to collect the Pilot: We were now officially in the North Sea and the ship's crew were now in charge until we reached Longyearbyen

Sailing along the Vlissingen waterfront

More of the Vlissingen waterfront

The ship blew its horn as we passed the Panta Rhei restaurant: Some of the Oceanwide Expeditions office staff traditionally go there to see their ships head North

Beach huts North of Vlissingen: There were a lot of beach huts once we had sailed North of Vlissingen

Having ceremonially said goodbye to Vlissingen, it was time for dinner. I landed up on what was easily the best table for meals with the rest of my cabin mates, Kris and Luc from Belgium and a Dutch Viking Joris. We were joined on that first evening by Birgit from Germany. That left one visitor's seat where a number of different passengers put in guest appearances.

Myself, Luc, Kris, Birgit and Joris (left to right): Very quickly Kris, who was a great story-teller, had nicked named us as Tribe 205 (after our cabin number) with a Pirate (Birgit). A nickname which stuck for the rest of the trip

After dinner, I headed back on to the top deck to start the first of many evening watches. We didn't see any Cetaceans or any particularly interesting Birds. But it was good to be back at sea and there was a cracking sunset for us to enjoy. In reality, it was the best sunset of the trip and sunsets weren't something we were going to see many of as we heading for twenty-four hour daylight.

The start of the sunset

A few modern Dutch windmills

Sunset

Zooming into the sunset

It was time to go to the Observation Lounge and do some socialising

12 Aug 26 - Solar Eclipse Back In Purbeck

There was a total solar eclipse on 11 Aug 99, which would be visible from Cornwall and the Scilly Isles. As the weather forecast predicted heavy clouds on the day, I couldn't face joining the traffic jams heading West. Dorset was predicted to have 99.5% coverage of the sun, but it would be full coverage a few miles South of the Dorset coastline. My cunning plan was to head to the coastal footpath above Dancing Ledge, where I would have a good view over the Purbeck coastline all the way to Portland. A few mates from Southampton joined me for the morning. I figured I would see the impacts of the solar eclipse over the sea.

Unfortunately, it was still cloudy in Purbeck back in 99. While we couldn't see the moon covering the sun, we did see it suddenly become very dark over Portland, as if there was about to be a tremendous storm. The darkness race East until it reached and passed us. There was also a noticeable drop in temperature, although that picked up again as the skies brightened. It had been a fun morning and given the traffic jams in Cornwall, it was a wise move to stay local. The only downside was I didn't have a decent camera in those days to capture the event. I can remember the forecasters saying there wouldn't be another full solar eclipse in the UK until 2090. There would have to be an amazing increase in life expectancy for me to see that one locally.

19:01: It was starting to get darker and fortunately, it was a virtually cloudless sky

There are occasional partial solar eclipses in the UK and the best for a generation happened on the evening of 12 Aug 26. I finished my regular volunteering day on Brownsea and without a lot of time to travel, I figured my best option was to head to the St Aldhelms patch. Unfortunately, quite a few others decided on the same plan and the car park was packed. More people parking inconsiderately on the approach road and on the private track leading to the Chapel, including one idiot car driver, who would have made it impossible for the farmer or quarry workers to get a wider vehicle past. As I've got permission to drive to the Chapel, I decided that was my best Plan B. Only a few vehicles had driven down the rough track so parking wasn't too bad when I reached the Chapel. There were quite a lot of people on the main coastal path, so I headed for the quiet of my main seawatching viewpoint.

19:07: Fortunately, this seemed to be about the peak darkness. At only 95% coverage, it was never going to be as dark as back in 99. There was a noticeable drop in temperature over the previous few minutes

Maybe I should have taken the big camera to take some close ups of the sun. However, I was worried about leaving it pointing at the sun for the duration of the eclipse, so all my photos were taken on the IPhone.

19:07: A close crop from the last photo (which I've also darkening) shows the sun was partially obscured

19:17: The light levels are starting to pick up again

19:24: The light levels continued to increase and the temperature was slowly getting warmer

19:41: It's a good job these clouds didn't appear an hour earlier

6 Feb 26 - ORCA Canaries Cruise - Western Palearctic Chaffinches

One of the daily tasks for the ORCA team on the Saga Canaries Cruises, is to produce a daily slide for the ship's TV. Usually, these slides are Cetacean-based. However, we sometimes cover some of the other wildlife that we encountered on the cruise. One of the slides I offered to produce was on the Madeira and Canaries Chaffinches.

The ORCA Chaffinch slide: The original slide is sharp, so it's frustrating that Blogger has made this image look so fuzzy

Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace proposed that species isolated on remote islands will adapt to the conditions and over time will evolve into new species. It was Wallace's write up of his ideas that finally spurred Darwin into writing up his observations. The two papers were presented at the same meeting on the Royal Society. In the end, Darwin had the higher social standing and it is Darwin's name that ended up being taught in schools as the 'Father of Evolution', whilst Wallace was largely and unfairly forgotten. It shouldn't be hard to change this to acknowledge that both men made important contributions. Wallace's observations were on closely-related Butterflies, Beetles, etc, which he noticed changed appearance as he moved through different islands in Indonesia. Darwin observations included the well-known Darwin's Finches on the Galapagos.

A regular-looking Male Chaffinch in the UK: Blashford Lakes (24 Mar 14)

On this Canaries and Madeira cruise, we saw how the Chaffinches have evolved into separate species, with different plumage and songs across the different islands we visited. Darwin came close to the opportunity to see this himself, as the Beagle was planning to visit Tenerife. However, due to a cholera epidemic in England, the Spain authorities wanted to quarantine English ships before the crews landed and the Captain decided to bypass the island. This was the safest decision for Tenerife, but a missed opportunity for Tenerife in the Theory of Evolution.

Canary Islands Chaffinch: Male. This is the bakeri subspecies which is restricted to Gran Canaria (29 Jan 26). It is one of four subspecies on the Canaries

When I started out Birding, there were two species of Chaffinch in the Western Palearctic: Chaffinch and Blue Chaffinch. Following various splits, there are now seven species: Chaffinch has been split into Chaffinch, African Chaffinch, Canary Islands Chaffinch, Madeira Chaffinch and Azores Chaffinch, while Blue Chaffinch has been split into Tenerife Blue Chaffinch and Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch.

Canary Islands Chaffinch: Male. This is the palmae subspecies which is restricted to La Palma (31 Jan 26)

Canary Islands Chaffinch: Male. Laguna de Barlovento, La Palma (31 Jan 26)

Madeira Chaffinch: Male. Palheiro Gardens, Madeira (1 Feb 26)

Hopefully, one of these days I will get to the Azores and be able to see and photograph the final Chaffinch split that I've not seen: Azores Chaffinch.

African Chaffinch: Male. Tafingoult, Western Sahara (15 Feb 14)

There are also two species of Blue Chaffinch on the Canary Islands. I've seen both species, but I only have photographed Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch. If I make it back to Tenerife again, I will have to go back up to the high Conifer forests to look for Tenerife Blue Chaffinch. It's a species I saw when I first visited the Canary Islands in Spring 94 and I wished I had made the effort to look for it again when I had a day on the island back in Jan 24.

Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch: Gran Canaria (29 Jan 26)

The Canary Islands are unique in the Western Palearctic in having more than one species of Chaffinches on some islands. There two species of Blue Chaffinches occur in the high Pine forests of Tenerife and Gran Canaria. I'm assuming this is due to a Chaffinch species arriving and adapting to live in the Pine forests which covered the islands in cooler periods of the Earth's history. As the Earth warmed up, these Pine Forests would have retreated to the higher and cooler parts of the highest islands. The ancestor of the Blue Chaffinches eventually evolved due to isolation into the two species of Blue Chaffinch. Assuming the ancestor of the Blue Chaffinch occurred on the other islands, they would have disappeared when the Pine trees died out on the lower, more arid islands or were out-competed by the Laurel forests. Much later, either Chaffinches or African Chaffinches must have re-arrived from Europe or North Africa, respectively and evolved again into the widespread Canary Islands Chaffinch which inhabits the lowland Laurel forests. The Chaffinch complex are an interesting group and they are the Western Palearctic's version of the Darwin Finches.