Scilly Pelagic no 3

An 11.00 start and glorious day in prospect for my third session on the sea! Question was.... would we see dolphins? Bella the chief Dolphin scout didn't look too optimistic....

But she was soon squealing with delight when a huge pod of Common Dolphins joined the boat!

Enjoying the wake and bow ride....

A brief view of Bottle-nosed Dolphins too!

A first for me was Ocean Sunfish. From distance,I likened it to spotting a large piece of plastic but when close up - what an amazing fish!!!

And they grow up to 1,000kg....

Plenty of the usual suspects, I really am getting to have a soft spot for Fulmar!

Which isn't something I daresay Herring Gulls have for Bonxies? Constantly being harrassed for food!

And not too far from the boat!

 We had spotted a trawler and this became our focus for most of the afternoon! It provided the two main highlights for me - the first was this 1st Summer Long-tailed Skua...

Clearly not wishing to be approached too close?

 But what the heck, let these guys have a good look at me!

And we did!

The next real high point was this Sooty Shearwater (third of the day) which bucked the trend of remaining distant....

By posing close to the boat!

How close would it allow?

 Into the feather detail zone!

There were at least 100 Storm Petrels which defied attempts to do them justice on the camera rear scree but tomorrow was going to be a bit windier and the prospects look good for taking them on?

The finale was meant to be a Large Tortoiseshell which I twitched unsuccessfully with Zac, Alex and Steph. Never mind, there was a couple of Hummingbird Hawkmoths to keep spirits up?

Early start in the morning and the wind was picking up, increasing our chances of a Wilson's or better?? You have to dream on in this game :-)