It was another 05:00 alarm call on the final morning of the Plymouth to Santander ORCA Survey. This allowed time for a quick breakfast, a cuppa of tea and time to pack the bags. We could leave the bags in the cabin, but we would have to vacate the cabin as soon as we came off the survey as we would be close to Plymouth Sound. We were on the bridge in the half light and started the survey at 05:55 and we had seven hours of surveying before we reached the Plymouth Breakwater.
It's an interesting final morning as the Pont-Aven sails close to the Brittany coast and inside of the islands off the coast. When we are sailing inside of the islands, the ORCA team keep to their positions and do not do our regular thirty minute rotation of roles, while there are more crew on the bridge.
I was lucky to be on my rest when we passed by a super-pod of three hundred and eighty Short-beaked Common Dolphins. This allowed me to enjoy and photograph some approaching Dolphins: which went on to enjoy bow-waving for several minutes.
In total, we recorded just over five hundred and fifty Short-beaked Common Dolphins. Other species included a Minke Whale, three Harbour Porpoises and a Shark sp. I also saw nine Cory's Shearwaters, a Sooty Shearwater & a few Manx Shearwaters in French waters. There were a few more Manx Shearwaters as we approached the Cornish coast.
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All too soon, another excellent & very enjoyable ORCA Survey was ending. It had been a lot of fun surveying with Becci, Charlotte and Riccardo and we had recorded just under one thousand Cetaceans, five Bluefin Tuna and a Shark sp.
