We finally departed from Santander for the island of Gran Canaria about eleven in the late evening on 25 Jan. Within a few minutes of leaving the port, we could feel the motion of the four to five metre swell in lower Biscay. Still it was good to be back at sea. We awoke the following morning back to find the seas had calmed down enough for the upper restaurant to be reopened. However, steady rain stopped us surveying. Chris spent some time looking from the shelter of the cabin's balcony, but he had only saw a Gannet and a few Kittiwakes for his efforts. The swell had picked up by lunchtime and the upper restaurant was closed again to the passengers.
On a positive, the rain had stopped and the back of deck 10 was open for us to get out surveying after lunch. This location doesn't allow us to see the bows and consequently, the quality of the survey data isn't as good as it would have been on the top deck. But we gave it a go anyway. By the end of the day, we had seen a few more Gannets, Kittiwakes, a few unidentified Auks, but no Cetaceans. It had been a frustrating day for surveying, but at least the seas had calmed sufficiently, to allow us to keep moving towards Gran Canaria.
We were travelling South about twenty to thirty miles off the Portuguese coast, on our second morning at sea. The top decks were still closed, but at least the back of deck 10 was open and we managed to get out surveying for the morning. Finally, I saw our first Whale blow, which was an achievement in the four metre seas. At one point, I was talking to Chris when a Grey Phalarope flew up from the water and flew past a Kittiwake, before it dropped back on the water. This was one of two I saw on the cruise.
After lunch, the swell had increased to about six metres with the sea state increasing to seven. We have too stop surveying when the sea state reaches seven, as we would just miss too many sightings. However, we returned to the back of deck 10 to watch from there and hope that seas would calm a bit: unfortunately, they didn't. With little passing birdlife and no Cetaceans, I took the opportunity to take some photos of the sea conditions.
One of the things I like about being at sea is how the lighting changes the look of the sea. These two photos were taken ninety seconds between them and they have been processed with the same settings. It goes to show how the sea colour changes depending on the sunlight.
Our third morning at sea saw us about one hundred and fifty miles West of the Southern-most tip of Portugal at first light. While there was still a six to seven metre swell, the sea state has moderated a bit to sea state six, which allowed us to resume surveying off the back of deck 10.
The swell calmed a bit in the afternoon to four to five metres and a sea state of five. Late on it reduced further to a sea state of four. We saw a few Gannets and Kittiwakes, but no Cetaceans, during our full day of surveying. we ended the day East South East of Madeira and halfway between Madeira and the African coast.
I had mixed feelings on our final morning at sea as we approached the city of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria. When we left Santander, the Captain had hoped that we would arrive around breakfast time. However, due to the rough seas, we were running about half a day late and wouldn't dock until lunch time. This would limit my Birding time on the island, but at least we could get some surveying in as we approached the island. On a positive, we awoke to a three metre swell and only a twenty knot wind. There were fewer white caps, although it was still a sea state of four to five for most of the morning. But it seems almost flat calm compared to the previous few days. A real bonus was all, the top decks were open for the first sea day on the cruise and we had our first opportunity for a proper survey from the top deck.
By mid-morning, we finally saw Gran Canaria in the distance.
Despite the improved conditions, we failed to see any Cetaceans or Birds in the first half of the morning. Chris and I were discussing the white marks on the island, just after I took this distant photo of Gran Canaria. I assumed they were housing, but we were struggling to confirm that due to the distance. While I was looking at the island, I saw some distant splashes and finally some Dolphin bodies in the splashes. They were a long way ahead of us and I soon lost them, before Chris could get onto them. We didn't pick them up again. They were our first Dolphins of the cruise.
About thirty minutes later, there was a larger pod of around thirty-five Atlantic Spotted Dolphins which passed down the port side. They carried on swimming and didn't come in close to enjoy the bow wave. Finally, we had seen a decent pod of Dolphins.
We carried on surveying until we saw the pilot coming out to meet us. The upper restaurant was about to open, so it was time to head down for a quick lunch and hope we would be able to get off the ship soon after we docked. Fortunately, the Captain told us that the ship will be in port till late evening. I only had the afternoon to get up to the high Conifer forests on Gran Canaria and look for my first Tick of the year: Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch. At least I could drop the car off in the dark, if needed. I will cover the afternoon in my next Blog Post.