Jackie
Just back from a trip with the Company of Whales across the Bay of Biscay on board P&O car ferry Pride of Bilbao and what a fantastic weekend it was.
After a saturday evening departure from Portsmouth, during an early morning walk around the decks I found a juv Pied flycatcher and White Wagtail hitching a ride. Seabirds seen during the walk were Gannet,Cory's Shearwater, Herring gull & Gt Skua.
Following an introductory talk on the cetaceans that we might see, we headed up to the exclusive viewing platform above the bridge for a masterclass on seawatching before settling down for the day's watch. We soon spotted Fulmar, Sooty & Cory's Shearwaters, Gannets, Common Dolphins, Bottle-nosed Dolphins, Harbour porpoise, Minke whale & Sunfish.
Towards the end of the day, as we reached the edge of the continental shelf, we started seeing vapour blows from Fin whales, along with pods of Striped Dolphin and Tuna.
With the advantage of the viewing platform, the ship approached a large raft of shearwaters, which lifted off revealing a mixed flock of Great, Cory's and Manx Shearwaters along with 2 Storm-petrels.
With the ship docking at 6.00am in Santurzi, we headed out of town for a few hours walk on terra-firma, seeing migratory Pied & Spotted flycatcher, juv. Red-backed Shrikes, Short-toed Eagle, Honey & Common Buzzard, Whinchat & Stonechat, Serin, Tawny & Tree Pipit , Blackcap , Whitethroat , Sardinian & Cetti's warblers.
Back on board, an hour out of Bilboa, to the utter delight of one of the guides,3 Sowerby's beaked whales surfaced very close to the ship and we were able to admire these rarely seen whales ( 2 females & calf ). 2 hours later 2 Cuvier's beaked whales rolled on the surface and just as the excitement was dying down 2 Little Shearwaters flew across the prow of the ship.
In the last few hours of the day, we were treated to the sight of up to 20 Fin whales "blow" around the ship, most at some distance, but 2 surfaced about 50-60 metres from the ship and at last we were able to fully comprehend the size of the 2nd largest mammal on earth.
The final day was spent sailing up the English Channel, relatively quiet,with only 1 small pod of Harbour Porpoise, but plenty of feeding Gannet's along with Commic Terns, Artic & Gt Skua.
All in all, a great trip
Your account of whales, dolphions and seabirds has made me very jealous, must start planning my own trip soon...
I went on this trip last year, and I was lucky enough to see a young Blue Whale.
Jackie