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WHALE AND DOLPHIN RECORDS ABOARD YACHT LISTA LIGHT 2008-2009

Sighting form for the Whale and Dolphins Conservation Society

 

Introduction

Below are the results of our sightings of cetaceans from October 2008, as well as records of whales during the Bay of Biscay crossing in August. Although we saw dolphins and minke whale when sailing in the Inner Hebridees in July, we did not systematically record them as below. 

 

Method

There was always at least one person up on deck at watch as we sailed, often up to five people. We, therefore, had a good number of eyes scanning the sea. Any dolphin or whale activity was recorded in our nature book at the helm during the day or night. We are not skilled observers, but were able to i.d. the dolphins fairly easily. The whales, however, were generally much more difficult to identify as they usually did not swim as close as the dolphins to the boat and only showed a fin or part of their body. We used binoculars and took photos when there was time to aid identification. Our main i.d. book was, *. We noted: the time, species, number, behaviour, location, ship’s speed, sea state, course of the animal and ship and added any particular notes, as recommended by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

 

Results and Discussion

We saw potentially four species of whale: fin whale, pilot, humpback and minke whale. The humpback was questionable as it was only seen fleetingly by one member of the crew. We saw the minke whale continuously over four days as it swam around our boat. The features we thought identified it were the white under belly and flipper we kept seeing. It did not look particularly big (unlike a humpback). It appeared interested in our boat, on one day becoming almost our ‘loyal companion’ circling us!

 

From photos and good observations we are very sure that pilot whales and fin whales were correctly identified. We saw three species of dolphins: risso, common and Atlantic spotted dolphin. As noted above they were much easier than the whales to i.d. as they ‘presented’ themselves to the boat, porpoising at the bowsprit. The only problem was at night, when all we could hear were their blow holes and observe their phosphorescent wake.

 

Dolphin hot spots were along the Pembrokeshire coastline and Lundy sea area, England, Scotland and the western Irish coastline. Crossing the Bay of Biscay was great for dolphins and whales and we generally had dolphins by our side along the Spanish and Portuguese coastline.

 

For more information on cetaceans visit the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, http://www.wdcs.org

 

YEAR:

2008-2009

VESSEL: Lista Light

 

 

AREA: Bay of Biscay

 

OBSERVERS:

All crew: KL, DL, CL, DA, AL, BL,HG, NT.

Date

Time

Species

Lat/Long

Distance (m) Bins/Eyes

Bearing

Number (specify any juv./calf)

Ship's course

Ship's speed (knots)

Animals heading

Behaviour

Sea state

Depth (m)

Notes

28.8.

1500

Fin Whale

009/ 49' 8

40

180

2

S

4

N

Swimming by our sides.

Medium- Light

 

Accompanied us for 5 mins.  Appeared to swim to boat to inspect us.

29.8.

1200

Fin Whale

44'24.3/ 009'38.4

200

173

2

 

5

N

 

 

 

Saw two whales at distance. Blows akin to fin whales saw day before.

10.10.

1014

Common Dolphin

42'09.48/ 008'54.28

50-10

 

40

SW

 

W

 

 

 

Among  fishing boats, leaving Vigo- near Islas de Cies.

10.10.

1014

Risso Dolphin

42'09.48/ 008'54.28

5

 

5

SW

 

W

 

 

 

Among  fishing boats, leaving Vigo- near Islas de Cies.

10.10.

1100

Common Dolphins

42'09.4/ 008'54.

200-1

 

 

SW

 

W

 

 

 

By fishing boats and then swam to Lista Light.

10.10.

1555

Common Dolphins

42'58.222/ 009' 05.44

1

 

4

 

 

 

Swimming at bowsprit

 

 

 

11.10.

115

Common Dolphins

41'21.83/ 008'52.818

40087

 

30

 

 

 

Swimming at bowsprit

 

 

Phosphorescence lighting their way. With us for much of night.

16.10.

1600

Common Dolphin

41'18 / 008'49

 

 

12

 

3.8

 

 

 

 

 

16.10.

1730

Common Dolphin

41'05.69 / 008'56.28

 

259

9

W

4.4

S

Jumping out of water. Came to join us.

Light.

67

Playing, mirroring one another, tummy to tummy.

17.10.

1300

Fin Whale

40'42.49/ 009'28.49

100

210

1

SW

0.6

S

 

Light, rolling swell.

1500

Rising out of water

18.10.

1513

Common Dolphin

39'43.32/ 009'50.29

1-100

182

10

S

5

N

Jumping waves fast.

Nil

 

Came to bow and then retreated quickly to N.

18.10.

1757

Common Dolphin

39'29.63/ 009.46'86

1

171

8

S

5

 

Bow riding

2

 

 

18.10.

2250

Common Dolphin

39'40.3/ 009'4.6

1-100

177

6

S

3

S

Stern

Medium

 

Phosphorescent wake.

19.10.

1019

Common Dolphin

38'42.3/ 009'30.14

1-100

144

5

SE

4.5

 

 

 

 

 

24.10.

1312

Common Dolphin

38'25.9 / 009'00.

20

100

8

SE

 

N

Broaching waves.

Light.

80

2 miles from L/Lat, did not swim with boat

28.11

1300

Common Dolphin

29'42.7/ 013'10.4

 

 

4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8.12.

1418

Pilot Whale sp.

13'39. 18 / 28'52. 15

40

168

2

S

0

From E to N

Broad sweep around boat

Nil.

950

 

8.12.

1730

Pilot whale sp.

28'55.1 / 3'41.1

1-100+

270

1

W

0

E

 

 

12

Whale at bow. Dived deep, leaving large oily circle. We then saw whale at 100m plus in huge arc heading out to sea away from us.

9.12.

1621

Common Dolphin

13'44.2/ 28'30.5

2

160

1

SW

4

SW

Swam to boat, popoising.

M

 

 

21.12.

1841

Common Dolphin

27.49'64/ 016'22.78

1

240

5

SW

4

 

Porpoising, huge leaps out of sea.

M

 

Feeding frenzy, leaping out of water around boat.

22.12.

240

Common Dolphin

22'30.1/ 019'41.9

1

40

2

SW

6.5

SW

Blowing sounds.

L

 

Phosphorescence shot from their wake.

GMT plus 1 hour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25.12.

2331

Common Dolphins?

22'32.48/ 019'37.7

5

 

10?

SW

1

N

 

Nil

 

Dolphins heard blowing at night and swimming by boat. Heading off to the north.

26.12.

1636

Humpback Whale?

22'20.19/ 019'55.47

40

40

1 adult, 1 calf

SW

1.4

NE/E

Swam passed boat, fin exposed.

Nil

 

Flat calm. Whales had white, lumpy head, striations..

26.12.

1948

Common Dolphin

22'17.0/ 19'57.6

1

300

3

SW

1.5

NE/E

Swimming at bowsprit

L

 

Phosphorescence shot from their wake.

27.12.

448

Common Dolphin?

22'07.36/ 020'01.5

1

All around boat

5

S

1.5

S

 

L

 

Exhaling air in the darkness. Phosphorescence.

27.12.

2224

Common Dolphin?

22'07.36/ 020'01.5

1

All around boat

5

SW

0.2

W

 

Nil

 

Circling ship and then off to west, keep returning.

29.12.

425

Common Dolphin?

21'28.12/ 021'04.17

1

All around boat

5

SW

2.6

?

 

L

 

Dolphins have come at night since Christmas Day, blowing out and circling.

29.12.

630

Common Dolphin?

21'24.9/ 021'10.1

0.2

Around ship from N

6

SW

3.4

SW

 

L

 

Swimming around boat, porpoising.

30.12.

836

Common Dolphin

20'46.5/22'19.5

1

S/SE

2

SW

3.7

N

 

L

 

Bow riding, porpoising, fin, white belly, racing to the side.

30.12.

1402

Pilot Whale sp.

20'40.14/ 022'28.71

30

 

8

130

0.4

SW

 

L

 

Close views of fins. Travelling together in close knit pod.

2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.01.

750

Atlantic spotted dolphin

19'51.92/ 025'07.53

1

W

15

W

6.3

W

 

L-M

 

Come from N to bow riding and surfing waves. Speckled heads and bellies.

2.01.

1336

Atlantic spotted dolphin

19'45.66/ 028'07.61

1

W

20 (including young)

W

6

W

 

L-M

 

Came from south, porpoising clear out of water. Jubilant. One with distinctive tattered fin. White bellies, speckled tops, lightning stripes! Very playful and fast.

2.01.

1736

Atlantic spotted dolphin

19'44.40/ 028'32.21

1

W

8

W

6.1

Came from south, to N.

 

L-M

 

Porpoising over waves, flying above water. Very ebullient.

9.01.

1354

Minke whale?

18'00.93/ 043'38.77

10

W

1

W

4.5

W

 

M

 

Huge whale by side of boat. Heard blow. White belly.

10.01

1530

Minke whale?

18'00.93/ 043'38.77

10 to 30 

 

1 or 2

W

6

W, alongside us.

 

M

 

Whale surfed just under wave at our stern. Displaying white under belly. White pectorial fin. Circled around boat. Fin and back above water. Circled around boat and surfed wave again. Blows near wave. Continued similar behaviour over next couple of days, swimming very close to boat.

11.01

11.15-12

Minke whale?

18'08.5/ 046'57.4

5

W passed us

1 or 2

W

4.4

 

 

 

 

Same whale? Same behaviour. Seen four times during day.  

GMT plus 3 hours

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14.01

All day

Minke whale?

18'35.13/ 053'37.0

5

All around boat

1 or 2

W

4

W, alongside us.

 

 

 

Whale surfacing and swimming around boat, seen at intervals all day, until dark. Similar behaviour to above.

16.01

1220

Common Dolphin?

017'31.09/ 056'13.34

1

 

3 or 4

W

3

 

 

 

 

Snuffling at bow in darkness

17.01

1623

Common Dolphin

17'42.10/ 59'12.6

1

All around boat

5

W

3

 

 

M

 

Porpoising, swimming at bowsprit. They appeared to be interested in bright orange jacket of person at bow of boat.