Not so Common

When we were on a trip the other day, I was in the middle of my speech about the Grey Seals when Andy (my crewman) tapped me on my shoulder and said there is a common seal over there.
I put down my mic and picked up my bins for a look and there it was, right in the middle of all the grey seals.
Its been a good few years since I last saw a common seal at the Farnes and I'm surprised we don't see more of them, but this was a pleasant surprise.

You could tell its not used to boats as we were nowhere near it and it was getting really nervous so after a few pictures we left it alone.

Orcas (Killer Whales)

On Bank Holiday Monday I received a phone call from my friend Matty about some whales he had seen. Now judging by the sound of his voice this was not the normal whale sightings and I was right as it was an Orca Whale.
He was totally buzzing and so pleased to tell me that he was off for another look. I asked him if he thought I might be able to see them too if I headed straight out there but he was not sure as they were seen 6 miles away.

10 minutes later I got a call from Glen on the fishing vessel Standsure saying the same thing but he had seen more. I could not help myself, I had to rush down the harbour, jump on board the boat and go and see them. A friend of mine joined me and we headed straight out of Seahouses.

Once we arrived we found nothing and after a good look around we headed back as I had a trip out at 10.15am. We were a little disappointed but nothing ventured nothing gained.

The guys did get a little footage of video so here is the link FACEBOOK but please turn the volume down.

Here is a picture but its not very good sorry.

Eggs have been spotted

The Shags and Guillemots are now on eggs. It may only be a few but that's it the breeding season has begun. I'm not sure how the Shag season will be as we have seen lots of dead Shags along the shoreline because of the "Beast from the East" and very unsettled weather after that, but fingers crossed they make a good recovery. When I looked back at the records from last year we had our 1st shag chick hatch on the 1st May but this year the 1st egg was spotted on the 1st May, so they are a month behind. Hopefully its nothing to worry about as their breeding season is not as critical as other seabirds because they live here all year long and hopefully this is just a little blip and they will bounce back.

The Guillemots look like they are doing really well and the weather does not seem to have affected them as much as the shags. They are a hardy seabird and must put up with a lot of weather all the time. Its nice to see them again and the noise around the islands is great. The fights and the squabbles is part of life on the cliff faces and this season is no different and long may it last.