White-beaked Dolphins 19/06/2013

10 White-beaked Dolphins 6nm E of Souter Point this morning (A. Skinner/SarahJFK).

NEWT's 16th year of North Sea pelagics gets underway this Friday, 21/06/2013, departing Royal Quays marina at 18:00 for a 4hr sailing off the coast of southeast Northumberland in search of whales, dolphins and seabirds.  Following a late cancellation we've got a few places available at £32.50/person.  Call 07908 119535 or e-mail martin@newtltd.co.uk

Recent MARINElife North Sea Ferry Survey sightings from DFDS Seaways

Immingham to Esbjerg 7-9 Sept, Jutlandia Seaways
Common Seal with Grey Seal 325 (hauled out)

Immingham to Cuxhaven 14-16 Sept, Hafnia Seaways
Harbour Porpoise 1

Immingham to Brevik 23-26 Sept, Petunia Seaways
Harbour Porpoise 19
Minke Whale 2
Grey Seal 12

Felixstowe to Vlaardingen 25 Sept, Flandria Seaways
Minke Whale 1

Rosyth to Zeebrugge 14-15 Sept, Finlandia Seaways
White-Beaked Dolphin 2
Harbour Porpoise 1
Grey Seal 1

For more information please see http:www.marine-life.org.uk/sightings

Northumberland pelagics 2011

The 2011 Northumberland Pelagics programme, operated by Northern Experience Wildlfie Tours in association with the Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club

Friday 22nd July 2011
A 4-hour evening pelagic departing Royal Quays Marina at 18:00. Cost £30 per person. Target species; Storm Petrel, Great Skua, cetaceans

Wednesday 27th July 2011
A 5-hour pelagic to the Farne Deeps on a high-speed RIB, departing Seahouses Harbour, time tbc. Cost £70 per person. Target species; White-beaked Dolphin, Common Dolphin, Minke Whale

Friday 29th July 2011
A 4-hour evening pelagic departing Royal Quays Marina at 18:00. Cost £30 per person. Target species; Storm Petrel, Great Skua, cetaceans

Wednesday 3rd August 2011
A 4-hour evening pelagic departing Royal Quays Marina at 18:00. Cost £30 per person. Target species; Storm Petrel, Great Skua, cetaceans

Thursday 11th August 2011
A 10-hour pelagic to the Farne Deeps departing Royal Quays Marina at 08:00. Cost £70 per person. Target species; White-beaked Dolphin, Common Dolphin, Minke Whale

Saturday 3rd September 2011
An 8-hour day pelagic departing Royal Quays Marina at 09:00. Cost £47.50 per person. Target species; skuas, shearwaters, cetaceans

Saturday 10th September 2011
A 4-hour Whale and Dolphin Cruise departing Seahouses Harbour at 10:00. Cost £35/adult, £20/child. Target species; White-beaked Dolphin, Minke Whale, Harbour Porpoise.

Saturday 17th September 2011
An 8-hour day pelagic departing Royal Quays Marina at 09:00. Cost £47.50 per person. Target species; skuas, shearwaters, cetaceans

Our pelagic trips from Royal Quays take place on the SarahJFK, a 44ft converted lifeboat which is used for sea-angling charters and for the last ten years has been chartered for our pelagic trips. The boat offers an excellent vantage point for observation of wildlife. All of our Royal Quays pelagics are limited to a maximum of 12 participants, allowing all on board a good opportunity to see any birds or cetaceans which are found. Some truly outstanding opportunities for photography occur on our pelagic trips as well, with many birds being attracted very close to the boat.
Our Whale and Dolphin Cruise from Seahouses will be on Glad Tidings V.

Our pelagic trips have proved very successful and they are an excellent way to enjoy our offshore wildlife in the company of other birders who are always willing to help any less experienced participants. More experienced birders may well find that the North Sea is a new frontier for their birding. Pelagic birding is very unpredictable but highlights of our trips on the SarahJFK have included the 1st British North Sea Wilson’s Petrel (2002), Long-tailed Skua (2002), Sabine’s Gull (2005), Harbour Porpoise (2006), Minke Whale (2006 and 2007), Great Shearwater, Balearic Shearwater and Pomarine Skua (2007), excellent views of Sooty Shearwater in each of the last nine years and several very close encounters with White-beaked Dolphins, most recently on our Farne Deeps trip in September 2010.
Participants should bring their own food and drink and warm/waterproof clothing.
To reserve a place on any of these trips, please contact Martin Kitching martin@newtltd.co.uk or (O167O) 827465 and send a deposit of £10 per person per trip (cheque payable to ‘Northern Experience Wildlife Tours Ltd’, non-refundable if you cancel at a later date) to NEWT Ltd, 18 Frances Ville, Scotland Gate, Northumberland, NE62 5ST. Alternatively, you can book online. The balance of payment is due 2 weeks before sailing.

ORCA

With ORCA (Organisation Cetacea) having wildlife officers and volunteer surveyors on the DFDS ferry King of Scandinavia for this coming summer, they'll be adding to our knowledge of cetacean distribution in the North Sea. Kathryn and Steph have kindly offered to let me know of any cetacean and seabird sightings they have so that we can add them to the blog. Updates will initially be as comments below this post, but we're hoping to welcome the girls as authors on northeastcetaceans soon.

A quick glance at the database I've collated as part of the Northeast Cetacean Project has some really exciting cetaceans in amongst the 'expected' species; Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin, Harbour Porpoise, Humpback Whale, Minke Whale, Orca, Pilot Whale, Risso's Dolphin, Sei Whale, Sperm Whale, Striped Dolphin, White-beaked Dolphin and White-sided Dolphin have all been reported in the last decade.

Birdwatching in the North Sea can be a bit erratic, but it can be extremely good...so I'd like to wish Kathryn and Steph luck in finding something really special on one of their crossings. Hmmm...Black-capped Petrel :-) Not Cape Gannet or Pacific Fulmar though - they're my top tips for this year's Northern Experience Pelagics..or for the Northumberland seawatching mecca that is Newbiggin by the Sea ;-)

The end of the beginning

Yesterday saw the finale to the winter phase of the Northeast Cetacean Project...and there couldn't have been a more appropriate way to do it. Our specially invited list of participants gathered at Royal Quays marina just before 9am ready to board the SarahJFK for a trip to the Farne Deeps. We'd invited all of the key organisations so there were representatives from Natural England, Marinelife, Northern Experience Wildlife Tours, Northumberland & Tyneside Bird Club, Northumberland Wildlife Trust, Newcastle University and the Sea Fisheries Protection Office. Sadly, David Steel was stuck on the Farne Islands so couldn't join us, and the Chief Exec of the NWT had had a breakdown in his car (not him personally, his car had broken down).

As we set sail on a flat calm sea (so very, very different from any of the survey dates...) the draft report for the initial project was available for discussion, plans were formulated for the next stage of the project and we were able to enjoy some very relaxed birdwatching. Puffins were probably the most numerous bird seen during the day, Kittiwakes followed the boat for much of the trip, being their endearing selves, Gannets passed by, an occasional Fulmar glided along effortlessly and we managed to see two cetaceans; both were very brief - one Harbour Porpoise and one unidentified animal. As we returned to Royal Quays there was great deal to ponder; our report will draw some interesting conclusions, which will surely lead to more questions, more surveys, more seawatching, more pelagics.

Recent sightings

2 juvenile Minke Whales reported off Eyemouth yesterday

Request for cetacean sightings

As part of the Northeast Cetacean Project (a partnership involving Marinelife, Natural England, NTBC and Northern Experience Wildlife Tours) we are compiling a database of cetacean sightings for northeast England.

Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club and Durham Bird Club members, along with Marinelife volunteers, are involved in our ongoing seabird/cetacean surveys, but we are keen to extend our cetacean database as far back as 2003 (or even earlier if significant records can be unearthed).

Whilst compiling the database it has been noticeable that there seem to be a lot of cetacean sightings that are written in notebooks but not published anywhere. If you do have sightings of any cetaceans then we would be grateful if you would submit them for inclusion in our database. We're including tideline strandings/corpses in the database so please send records of those if you have any.The key data are; Date, Species, Number, Location, Observer. Less important, but still of interest if you have this level of detail are Time, Behaviour, Direction of Travel.

Please send records to Northeast Cetacean Project, 18 Frances Ville, Scotland Gate, Northumberland, NE62 5ST or e-mail martin.kitching1'at'btopenworld.com

Martin Kitching
Lead Surveyor, Northeast Cetacean Project

Sperm Whale

30ft Sperm Whale currently stranded on the rocks at Beadnell. BDMLR are on site but the tide is falling so the outlook isn't good.

Some excitement

Once a month we walk from Cresswell to East Chevington, counting waders, wildfowl and other waterbirds as part of the WeBS (Wetland Bird Survey). Yesterday was a warm, sunny morning with a stiff northwesterly breeze, so not bad for walking. As we scanned the sea off Druridge we found;

Minke Whale 1

which was moving quickly north, in the general direction of Coquet Island.

Recent reports

Friday 18th September, 6-7 Bottlenose Dolphins off Holy Island

Saturday 19th September, Humpback Whale 2 miles E of Newton by the Sea - it's still out there!

The Humpback Whale was found at 11:45 by a very surprised lobster fisherman. Well, you would be surprised if a 12m cetacean that you weren't aware of suddenly breached next to your boat! John Dawson on Glad Tidings V set out from Seahouses to search for it, but it had moved away by the time they arrived off Newton. Several hours of searching didn't reveal it's location. Surely the same animal seen off Longstone on Sunday 13th.

NEWT Whale and Dolphin Cruise

No, not a cruise in search of newts, whales and dolphins (how esoteric would that be?) but a Whale, Dolphin and Birdwatching Cruise from Seahouses at 10:00 tomorrow (Saturday 12th September). Organised by Northern Experience Wildlife Tours in association with Billy Shiel MBE, we will sail into the offshore waters of North Northumberland in search of cetaceans and seabirds.

Places are selling well, but there are still some remaining (£30/adult, £20/child) so call Martin on 01670 827465 to book your place.

With Minke Whale, White-beaked Dolphin and Harbour Porpoise all real possibilities it's one not to miss.

Weather will be glorious, winds will be light, and things are looking promising...

Here they come...

Cetacean reports today;

2 Minke Whales, several Harbour Porpoises and a pod of dolphin sp, south past Snab Point at lunchtime (D Dack/A Gilbertson)

10-15 Bottlenose Dolphins, from angling boat 10 miles E of Cresswell (A Skinner)

More WBDs

Another Andy Tait/Northern Experience video clip from 2005

White-beaked Dolphins

Mid-July is always a time when expectations for the forthcoming cetacean season are growing. With a pod of 20-30 dolphins off Sunderland and Tynemouth last Friday, which seem very likely to have been White-beaked, I thought I'd post a video clip from Andy Tait/Northern Experience, from a pelagic I organised in 2005, showing how close they sometimes get to our boat. We counted at least 15 animals on this trip, including one juvenile. Enjoy.