8 May 23 - Roscoff To Plymouth With ORCA

Last Autumn I took part in my first Cetacean Survey for the charity ORCA on the Poole to Cherbourg route. This May I've was selected for the next two surveys: Roscoff to Plymouth & a day trip to Scillies. I arrived in Plymouth on 7 May with plenty of time for some food before leaving the car in the Brittany Ferry terminal car park. One of the good things is the surveys are well supported by the ferry company & we get free parking (where available), as well as, travel on the ferries.

I were due to meet the leader Kerry & the other two surveyors, Julia & Jonathan, at 20:30. Kerry & Julia were there, but unfortunately, Jonathan had phoned in to say he was ill. So a bonus for me as I would get a cabin to myself. Kerry was happy we had a big enough team to complete the survey, but it would just mean spending two in every three thirty minute slots surveying with the third slot as recorder. Typically, there would be a down time slot as well when we are meant to rest our eyes. But given the amount of seawatching I've already done at sea in Antarctica & the West Pacific Odyssey this year, then my eyes are not used to the luxury of thirty minutes rest when at sea & I would have been Birding anyway.

We boarded the Armorique about 21:30 & we departed just before 22:00. We had a quick chat to confirm the plan for the following morning. The ship was expected to arrive around 07:00 into Roscoff and there would be a wakeup call for the passengers at 06:30. I reckoned it would be light around 05:30, so I set my alarm for 05:15, happy that there was nobody in my cabin to disturb with the early start. After a quick breakfast, I was up on deck to find it was overcast & a steady drizzle. We were about an hour off the French coast so I was hopeful of some Seabirds. The first sighting was a Stock Dove that was flying around the ferry. I found a covered viewpoint at the stern & started Seawatching. There was a steady movement of Manx Shearwaters, but sadly none of the hoped for Skuas. Perhaps the depression that had caused the rain, had held them up further South & West.

Manx Shearwater: I saw 92 Manx Shearwaters in the last hour before reaching Roscoff, but none were close

Stock Dove: I wasn't expecting to see a Stock Dove on the ferry, but migrants are regularly attracted to lights on boats when they hit adverse weather

At 06:30, I headed down to meet up with Kerry & Julia as we approached Brittany. We were allowed to keep one cabin for the whole of the trip, so I moved my bag to the other cabin. That saved the hassle of having to take it into Roscoff. We had about five hours to explore Roscoff, before heading back to board the ferry about 12:30.

The town of Roscoff coming into view in the gloomy & wet morning

The centre of the town is about a mile from the ferry terminal & it was a pleasant excuse to have a look at this interesting French town. Fortunately, the rain had dried up, albeit it still wasn't particularly warm. Kerry knew a cafe that was likely to be open, so that was a good excuse for a croissant and a couple of coffees, while we waiting for the front to pass.

There are some great designs on these old houses, especially the curves in the roof over the window & the stonework around the windows

The small harbour

The cafe had this aerial photo of the town

The cafe ceiling: I would have loved a ceiling like this when I was a nipper

After a long lazy breakfast, we had time to have a wander around the town, before heading back to the ship. A brief Hummingbird Hawk Moth & some Speckled Woods were the wildlife highlights of the morning.

Some more cracking traditional designs

I can see some similarity to some of the old stone houses in the Isle of Purbeck, but also some very different styles

The French take their chocolate seriously

The old church in Roscoff: There was a march preparing to start as we passed to remember VE Day. It was 8 May and the day that the Second World War ended in Europe

The offshore islands looked like they might be interesting Spring migrant traps, but perhaps too close to the mainland

Some of the coastline from the long pier

There were a lot more foot passengers on the return crossing and that slowed down our boarding. But we still left on time. There was time for a final coffee, before we got ready for the survey. We don't have bridge access while the ferry is leaving the port, but we can head up as soon as the ferry is out the port.

A final view of Roscoff from the long pier

The crossing was disappointing with no Cetaceans or Seals seen on the French side of the channel. The steady movement of Manx Shearwaters was still continuing and there were a few Gannets, a couple of Fulmars & a single Guillemot. Even the Seabirds had pretty much dried up after the first ninety minutes. They picked up again when we were about an hour or so off the Devon coast, with smaller numbers of Manx Shearwaters & Gannets, but still no Skuas. About thirty minutes before we entered Plymouth Sound, I picked up a couple of Short-beaked Common Dolphins that tried to sneak in really close to the bows: they were only about twenty metres ahead of the ferry. Sadly, they were our only Cetaceans for the crossing, but I guess not every survey is going to see lots of Cetaceans.

Julia (front) & Kerry carrying out a final scan in Plymouth Sound: We had finished the survey when we entered Plymouth Sound, hence the reason they were both on the same bridge wing

We were back on dry land about 20:00. It had been a long day, but a lot of fun. Albeit the day wasn't over as I still had to drive back to Dorset.