13 Jun 26 - From The Biggest To The Smallest Expedition Cruise Day 4 - Visiting Shetland

The fourth day of the North Atlantic Odyssey saw us approaching the Shetland Islands. The original plan was to visit Fair Isle. I was looking forward to finally setting foot on this hallowed turf. Sadly it wasn't to be, as the harbour was being renovated and was closed to landings. Plan B was to visit Foula in West Shetland, but again that wasn't possible as the locals were advising it might be too rough to land there, due to a high Atlantic swell. Plan C was viable and it was to land on the island of Noss: one of the East Shetland Islands. Landing wasn't a problem as being on the East side of the islands, Noss was sheltered from the Atlantic swell. But it was further to sail from Aberdeen and we wouldn't arrive until late morning. This allowed time for some Seabird and Cetacean watching from one of the bridge wings.

Gannet: This looks like a First Summer individual, as the black of the wings extends all the way to the mantle, there is a lot of black in the rump and it has a pale head. A Second Winter individual will look similar, but Second Summers will have white inner wing coverts and there will be more white feathers in the rump

Bonxie: As we got closer to the Shetland Islands, we started to encounter Bonxies flying past the ship, but none were close

The distinctive shape of Noss appeared on the horizon: Noss has high cliffs on its East side which drop down to a low height to the West

A closer photo of Noss

There was a large feeding flock of Gannets at the base of the sea cliffs: Sadly, we couldn't see any Cetaceans with them

Finally, we were entering the bay by Noss and dropping anchor. During this final approach, I briefly saw some distant Dolphins, but I wasn't able to figure out what they were as I quickly lost them and we carried on sailing past them.

We sailed past the cliffs on the East side of Noss before swinging into the bay on the North side: Just to the West of the final position of the Plancius is the larger island of Bressay

This building is the office for the NatureScot team who manage Noss: Visitors can visit in the Summer by taking a short boat ride from neighbouring Bressay. We were to doing a zodiac landing on the rocky landing site

The zodiacs were dropped into the water

Looking across to neighbouring Bressay

Bonxie: This Bonxie was sitting on the water as we prepared to drop anchor

At the last minute, I decided to stay on the Plancius, when the call to go ashore came. I wasn't too bothered about landing on Noss, whereas I would have definitely gone ashore on Fair Isle or Foula. I grabbed the scope and a hot drink and went back on the top deck for a few hours to try relocating the unidentified Dolphins. But they were too far away from our anchorage and I couldn't find them. After a bit of searching, I did find a few distant Harbour Porpoises between Noss and the neighbouring island of Bressay: another Cetacean for my trip list. There were a few Arctic Terns flying by, but always a bit too far for reasonable photos.

Arctic Tern

Arctic Tern

With everybody back on board, it was time to head North. Jan decided we would have a pre-dinner cruise past the Eastern cliffs of Noss, before turning North. About ten minutes after we left the anchorage, we encountered a pod of four Risso's Dolphins. Presumably, this was the unidentified Dolphins we had briefly seen as we arrived. Risso's Dolphins generally don't interact with ships, unlike Bottlenose Dolphins, which are also likely to be in these waters.

Risso's Dolphin: This looks to be a large, bulky Dolphin with a large dorsal fin

Risso's Dolphin: It also looks typically broad-bodied in this photo. However, it's also looks quite dark, but immature Risso's Dolphins are much darker than the adults

Risso's Dolphin: This is obviously a Risso's Dolphin with the pale markings and the scarring on the body

Risso's Dolphin: Starting to dive

Risso's Dolphin: Finally, the tail appeared

Risso's Dolphin: The front part of the body looks bulky

Risso's Dolphin: This individual has a distinctive scar just ahead and below the dorsal fin. It was partly visible in the earlier photos

Risso's Dolphin: They have a high swept-backed dorsal fin

After about ten minutes with the Risso's Dolphins, we carried on towards the Gannet cliffs.

This is just part of Gannet colony on the East Cliffs

A closer photo of part of the Gannet colony: I'm glad I don't have to count the nesting Gannets. It should be possible to photograph the colony and to try to merge the photos to allow the Gannets to be counted. However, ignoring the second individual when both of a pair of Gannets are present in the photo and the non-breeding near Adult Gannets hanging around the colony, will be trickier

It was impossible to count the numbers of Gannets pairs in the Gannet colony on the Eastern cliffs of Noss. My guestimate was ten thousand, which was surprisingly close and just one hundred and eighty-six pairs short of the 2025 count. It was an impressive colony.

Gannet: This looks like another First Summer individual

Puffin

Just after we turned North, we received the call to dinner. After dinner I returned to the one of the bridge wings. On most days, we had a few Fulmars enjoying the slipstream of the Plancius. I'm assuming they enjoy the same effect that professional cyclists get by staying in the slipstream and it saves they flying energy. Every now and then, one would cruise along the length of the ship and appear very close to the bridge wing. As I was generally looking forward, I wouldn't spot the close approach of the Fulmars until it was too late to react to get some photos. Finally, I managed to get some photos of one individual coming past.

Fulmar enjoying the slipstream

Fulmar

Fulmar: A close crop from the last photo, showing why they are part of the Seabird group called Tubenoses

The evening was fairly quiet as we sailed up the East side of the Shetland Islands. The highlights were another pod of three Risso's Dolphins and a Minke Whale, as well as, small numbers of the same Seabirds we had already seen.

Minke Whale: A typical Minke Whale that I picked up at long range, which showed again as we got closer to it, before quickly disappearing

The Out Skerries Lighthouse on the island of Bound Skerry: Afterwards we passed Yell and Unst, but they were too far away for any reasonable photos

When I got back into the Observation Lounge, I found that the Assistant Expedition Leader Chloe, has set up a microscope and was introducing the passengers to her new find, a Water Bear or Tardigrade. Chloe's real passion is plankton and other micro-organisms. Water Bears are not the smallest of in this diverse group of organisms, but are surprisingly fascinating. They occur in diverse habitats including: the deep sea, fresh water, Tropical rainforests, mountain tops and Antarctica. Depending on the species, they can vary in size from 0.05 to 0.5 mm. This was the smallest organism I saw on the expedition.

Water Bear: Chloe found this Water Bear in a very small sample of weed she found on Noss and it was fun to watch it moving around as it headed for a small bit of weed to feed on

They are among the most resilient Animals known. Scientists have shown they can survive severe conditions including exposure to extreme temperatures, extreme high or low pressures, air deprivation, dehydration, radiation and starvation. They have even survived exposure to outer space. Chloe said she had a pet Water Bear at home and typically allowed it to dry out when she was going away and would rehydrate it again when she got home after a few weeks at sea. Clearly, when a large asteroid eventually hits the Earth and we have another Dinosaur-like mass extinction, the Water Bears will just shrug their shoulders and carry on surviving, as they have done for the last five hundred million years.

Water Bear: A chart showing an artistic impression of a Water Bear. She was the only person on board who maintained the Polar Bears we saw later in Svalbard, were only the second best Bears of the trip

It was time for bed, so I could enjoy an early start in the seas as we sailed North from the Shetland Islands to Jan Mayen Island.

13 May 23 - A Day Trip To St Mary's With ORCA

This was my second Cetacean for ORCA in May 23. The previous week had seen me surveying from Roscoff back to Plymouth. This survey was going to stay within the UK with a day trip to the Isles of Scilly on the Scillonian III. The weather looked mild & sunny with light winds and hopefully calm seas. This turned out to be the case. I drove down in the early hours of the morning & fortunately, I didn't stop until the Long Rock McDonalds on the edge of Penzance. After some food, I planned to head into Penzance. But the car wouldn't start as I had a flat battery. I contacted the team leader for the survey, Mary to let her know & asked if she could pick me up. I knew She was staying near to the Hayle & would be coming right past me. Fortunately, she picked up my phone call & arrived about fifteen minutes later. We were soon parked up in Penzance. Ian, the third member of the team arrived before we needed to join the queue to board the Scillonian III.

The view from the bridge wing

We were allowed onto the bridge, once we were clear of Penzance Harbour. The Scillonian III has a small bridge and there isn't room for us to survey from inside the bridge. However, there is plenty of room on the bridge wings with a walkway in front of the bridge. We had been warned to wear warm & waterproof clothing as we would be exposed to the weather on the crossing. Fortunately, it stayed dry, however, thanks to the wind chill it was far from warm, despite the sun.

Gwennap Head & Porthgwarra Valley

Despite our best efforts, we drew a blank on Cetaceans on the crossing to St Mary's. The Bird highlights were: three Storm-petrels, thirty-three Manx Shearwaters, a few Gannets, some Razorbills & Guillemots and four Puffins. There were a couple of Seals around the Eastern Islands, but they were too far away to do anything other than record them as Seal sp., even though we suspected that Grey Seal was the more likely species. I was focusing on watching for Cetaceans and I didn't have time to do much photography, other than when I was the recorder. We carried on surveying until just before we could see Hugh Town.

The walkway in front of the bridge

Survey over & Mary is enjoying the view of St Mary's

The top end of St Mary's

Telegraph at the top end of St Mary's

We docked just before 12:00 and had about three & a half hours for a shore run. This allowed us to be back on the quay an hour before the Scillonian III's schedule departure to ensure there were no last minute problems getting aboard. We all split up to do different things. My plan started with a walk to Porthcressa Beach in the hope of being able to scan over to St Agnes and Gugh. At high tide, the beach between the two islands is flooded, but at low tide it is possible to walk across to Gugh from St Agnes. There was a Laughing Gull that was hanging around a Lesser Black-backed Gull colony on Gugh.

Porthcressa Bay

I've seen a couple of Laughing Gulls in the UK and many more abroad, so I wasn't fussed enough to jump on an inter-island boat over to St Agnes to try to see it. Plan B was to see if I could see it from Porthcressa Beach. The answer was no: I hadn't bothered taking the telescope with me, but there was too much heat haze anyway. I spoke to a local Birder who did have a scope, but he said the Laughing Gull often dropped into the colony & disappeared out of sight & he hadn't seen it since he had started looking before I arrived.

Porthcressa Bay

Looking into Porthcressa Bay from Peninnis

I wasn't too fussed about hanging around & carried on, over Peninnis Head to look around the Old Town Church & Lower Moors, followed by walking around Porthloo Lane. These are some of my favourite parts of St Mary's. Not surprisingly, there weren't any migrants, but it was good to have a gentle walk around some of my old October haunts from the past.

Moorhen: Chick. Lower Moors, St Mary's

Song Thrush: They are always a favourite for visiting Birders as they are much tamer than elsewhere in the UK

Porthloo Beach

The Scillonian III: A sight that will be familiar to all the Birders who have visited St Mary's

Finally, I ended up back in a Hugh Town cafe to top up the caffeine levels before heading back with plenty of time to meet Mary & Ian on the quayside.

Hugh Town harbour

The inter-island boats return in time to connect with the Scillonian III's departure

We sailed on time and it was a better crossing.

Gugh: This photo was taken from the Scillonian III & Gugh was a fair bit closer that from Porthcressa Bay. But trying to pick out the Laughing Gull would still have been a challenge

My personal highlight on the return crossing, was finding a pod of three Risso's Dolphins heading straight for the Scillonian III, before passing down the port side. Frustratingly, I didn't manage to get any photos. When surveying, the initial priority is to note the vertical distance of the Cetacean from the horizon when it is first seen. We use binoculars which have a vertical graduated marking in the left eyepiece which allows that to be measured. Next you have to measure the angle from 12 o'clock (i.e. the direction the ferry is travelling) to the Cetacean.

These two measurements are useful as they allow the ORCA head office computer to calculate the distance from the ferry to the Cetacean. The maths also needs to know the height of the bridge above sea level (which is a known height for each ferry). The ships heading, speed, position, time, sea state, weather & visibility are also included in the calculations. Finally, the direction of travel and what the Cetacean is doing is also noted. All this information helps the ORCA head office computer to provide an estimate of the number of Cetaceans seen along each of the survey routes and ultimately the population numbers along each ferry route.

Risso's Dolphin: These Risso's Dolphins were photographed from the Plancius on the West African Pelagic between Cape Verde and the Canaries (3 May 18).

Once these measurements have been determined, the next thing is to identify the Cetacean involved. But I had already done that on the first sighting based upon their colouration, size & high dorsal fin. Finally, I could lift the camera to try & get a photo. But I hadn't seen them till they were fairly close, we were closing rapidly on each other and they weren't spending a lot of time on the surface. Think that's enough excuses for the lack of photos. They were only my second UK sighting, although I've also seen then on the Atlantic Odyssey, the West African Pelagic and Banda Sea Cruise.

Manx Shearwater: I saw thirty-three on the crossing to St Mary's and just under three hundred on the return journey

Half an hour later, Ian picked up a very close Minke Whale, but I was the recorder & had to head straight into the bridge to note the time, location, course & speed. Once I had noted them, it had already detected our presence & dived for good. C'est la vie. There were more Manx Shearwaters and a few each of Fulmars, Gannets, Razorbills and Guillemots. But no more Storm-petrels or Puffins. Eventually, we reached Mousehole, before starting the turn into Penzance Bay.

The Wolf Rock Lighthouse off the Cornish coast

Mousehole

St Michaels Mount in Penzance Bay

The second survey of the day was over and to get a relatively calm crossing on the Scillonian III is always a big bonus. It had been a lot of fun & I'm hoping I get selected for another Scillies survey.

Rock Pipit: This Rock Pipit greeted our return from the seawall of Penzance Harbour, while we were waiting to disembark

Fortunately, we managed to jump start the car when Mary dropped me back at it. It was then a straight-forward drive home in one go. I managed to bump start it on the Monday & got the car into the garage. They confirmed that the problem was an end-of-life battery and not anything more serious or expensive like a dying alternator. A new battery & I was back on the road again.