Date: Friday 26th June 2009

At first there was a brisk wind but glassy wavelets. A Minke whale gave us a great show as he came to the surface near the boat twice – once to hear his blow and another to smell his breath. We kept him in sight for over 15 minutes. (There may have been two, but Lewis will have to check the photos.) Large number of birds flew by – graceful gannets up to a dozen at a time and flocks of guillemots of up to thirty. After lunch a great skua encircled the boat looking as if he might land on the boat back but decided better of it. The next several hours saw few birds, several grey seal heads and one porpoise. (Porpoise detection showed on the hydrophone data.).
We landed on Monarch Islands to flocks of sheep, rebuilt/ruined houses, and wild flowers – buttercup, daises, but the thistle was only in bud. The islands were inhabited for 100 years, then off and on due to soil erosion and troubles until all left slowly by attribution in the mid 1930’s. Two large white swans dived eating in a pond along with a female duck followed by seven chicks in a line behind. Fulmers nest here in the low rock walls and sand dunes because there are no trees. Terns swooped and oyster catchers scolded. Dozens of grey seals popped up, all looking our way, wary when the skipper stopped the motor and drifted. Lewis went in with a dry suit and viewed three to four at a time swimming under the boat. It was fascinating to see their heads well above the water and then all dive in unison. It was a truly gorgeous evening with radiant sun beams and on-off clouds. Chust sublime.