Our return sailing from Northern Spain to the UK was scheduled to leave Bilboa at 1300 on 8 July. If I told my wife last check-in was 1215 she would have treated that as a target not a deadline so I told a white lie and said we needed to be there by 1100 in the hope that it would get us out of the apartment in good time to beat the traffic and the extensive roadworks which we had to pass through on the way down to the coast from Potes. This strategy was only partly successful and we were on the road later than planned at 0845.
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| Cuvier's Beaked Whale - note the pale head |
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| 2 of the small pod of Cuvier's Beaked Whale |
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| Cuvier's Beaked Whale |
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| Cuvier's Beaked Whale |
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| Cuvier's Beaked Whale |
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| Cuvier's Beaked Whale |
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| Cuvier's Beaked Whale - presumed male due to scarring on the back from fighting with other males |
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| Gannet |
The ORCA spotter from our journey south, Leonie, was on board again and advised that we should be eyes peeled from about 1500 as we approached the deeper waters of the Santander and Torrelevega Canyons. These drop to a depth of 4000m which suits a Biscay speciality, the Cuvier's Beaked Whale, very well - it's the world's deepest diving mammal and can stay underwater for almost 3 hours. Leonie warned though that the journey south which she had just completed had been very quiet - the whole trip hadn't produced a dolphin which was highly unusual.
With our expectations duly managed, we soaked up the sun on deck 10 and stayed as alert as was possible in the heat and with a San Miguel in hand. After a couple of hours of very little action, Leonie called a whale at the front of the ship and we were treated to close views of a small pod of Cuvier's Beaked Whales surfacing relatively close. The characteristic pale head could be clearly seen and they rolled 3 or 4 times providing the opportunity for a few photos. This was a key target for the trip so I was delighted to have seen them.
The rest of the day was uneventful to say the least - I stayed on deck pretty much the whole time and saw nothing more than a few Common Dolphin towards the end of the day. Perhaps the recent heatwave had pushed the other cetaceans further north? To answer this question I was on deck not long after first light on 9th July, at which point the coast of Brittany was already visible ahead of us. Pods of Common Dolphins started to appear around the ship, rolling slowly in stark contrast to the energetic antics which we witnessed on the journey south.
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| Manx Shearwater |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Fulmar |
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| Balearic Shearwater |
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| Ouessant |
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| Common Dolphin |
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| Common Dolphin |
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| Common Dolphin |
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| Harbour Porpoise |
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| Harbour Porpoise |
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| Rare view of a juvenile Harbour Porpoise's head! |
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| Bottlenose Dolphin off the Dorset coast |
As we passed between the island of Ouessant and the Brittany mainland, the early start caught up with me and I headed below for breakfast and a short nap. On returning to deck 10 Leonie broke the news that in this brief absence I had missed a Minke Whale very close to the ship! This was enough incentive for me to spend almost all of the rest of the journey on deck, and I was rewarded with more good views of Common Dolphin, a couple of pods of Harbour Porpoise, plus Balearic and Manx Shearwater and a few European Storm Petrels. The last cetaceans of the trip were a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins which we watched with the familiar landmarks of the Dorset coast as a backdrop - so possibly the pod we see occasionally from Durlston or Portland. Either way it was a fitting end to a fabulous trip which I hope to repeat in the not too distant future.
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| Returning to Portsmouth |
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| The Isle of Portland from way out in the the Channel |
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| Fort in the Solent |
