Despite spending all day on deck surveying, barring meals, on the fourth and final day at sea before we reached Tenerife, we failed to see any Cetaceans.
Charlotte displaying the end of the day scoreboard, which didn't reflect how much effort we had put into the day: I saw one sole Kittiwake all day, as I was on the wrong side of the ship for a lone Dolphin sp. and a small group of Cory's Shearwaters
The late afternoon sky was equally uninspiring: On a positive, we would have our first shore run in Tenerife on the next day
We were up early and we were surveying from first light as we got close to Tenerife. There were a few Gannets, but no Cetaceans. But in reality, we were not that far offshore at first light & we quickly entering the relatively busy harbour at Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
It was a busy port with a number of inter-island ferries
There was time for a lazy breakfast while we were waiting for the ship to be cleared. As part of the entertainment team, we were expected to give priority to the passengers when it came to disembarkation and to early reboarding the ship. Having spent six days on Tenerife back in Apr 94, I decided to use the morning to do some planning for the Lesser Antilles. Consequently, it was after lunch before I went ashore to stretch my legs around the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Church of the Immaculate Conception: The church was built on the site of the first Spanish chapel build in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the late 1400s
There were a few endemics around the port with a party of Plain Swifts flying over near the Auditorium, a small group of Canary Island Chiffchaffs (which wouldn't perform for the camera) & a few Canaries.
Plain Swift: Note, the small head, short & narrow and relatively straight wings, long slim body and very deep forked tail
Plain Swift: Note, the dark throat and relatively uniform colouration
Plain Swift: Looks like this one is eyeing up some food
Plain Swift: This monotypic species breeds on the West Canary Islands and Madeira. In recent years, a few pairs have been found breeding in Portugal. Some of the population Winter in North Africa
Plain Swift: This one seems to have narrow pale tips to the trailing edge of the secondaries, unlike the previous individual
Plain Swift: I like the fine pale edgings to the body
Plain Swift: The dark eye stands out against an otherwise uniform face, unlike the masked face of Pallid Swift
Canary: This is where the domestic Canaries came from: This is a monotypic species which occurs on Madeira, Azores & West Canary Islands
Parts of the old Battery of San Francisco still survive. This battery of four cannons helped to protect the city from the 1740s.
The remains of the Battery of San Francisco
What the Battery of San Francisco originally looked like
The Casa de la Polvora (Gunpowder House): This was built around the late 1750s
A better photo of the Casa de la Polvora: It was part of the wider defences of the Castillo de San Juan Bautista (Castle of St John the Baptist)
The stunning-looking Auditorium
Another view of the Auditorium
There were some good-looking Palms, Cacti & Succulents along the waterfront.
Some of the Cacti & Succulents
There were some Canary Island Chiffchaffs around these Palms
Tenerife Lizard: There were also a few Tenerife Lizards in this area
Tenerife Lizard: This species is endemic to Tenerife. There are a number of closely related species on the other Canary Islands
Tenerife Lizard: Another individual
My time in Santa Cruz de Tenerife was nearly up & it was time to return to the ship.
We were on deck for our departure from the port at 17:00. We quickly cleared the port and headed out to sea. Within about twenty minutes of leaving the land, we experienced very strong winds which was presumably caused by the difference in air pressures between the island at sea. This was far from pleasant, but we kept surveying. The strong winds didn't drop in strength until close to dusk. Again, there were no Cetaceans, but we were rewarded with a decent sunset for our efforts.
The sunset with the island to its right
It was a good sunset: What we hadn't appreciated was the dust shown in the photo was Saharan dust. This was to be a real problem for the next few days at sea as it reduced visibility down to only a mile or two on the first day. It slowly improved over the next few days
