Back in August 2023 Sue and I embarked on a cruise from Tilbury Docks in Essex, sailing to Portugal, Spain and the Balearic Isles in the Mediterranean Sea. We set sail on the evening of 12th of August, returning to Tilbury on the 26th; we were going to be visiting 5 ports, so there was going to be a lot of relaxing sea days. Our first 3 days would be at sea as we travelled to Portugal for Porto, going through the western approaches towards the Bay of Biscay. Great, Cory's and Manx Shearwater were noted along with Fulmar and Gannet. I've been across Biscay a few times but this time I was really disappointed with the amount of cetaceans we were encountering - or the lack of them! We were seeing plenty of Common Dolphin and Striped Dolphin, but no large Whales and also not that many sea birds either.
Great Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Cory's Shearwater
Manx Shearwater
Striped Dolphin
Striped Dolphin
Striped Dolphin
Common Dolphin
I never took my camera camera onshore at all, so I can't share any images of the beautiful places we docked at (sorry!!)
After visiting Porto, which is an amazing city, we were again at sea for three days, in the Atlantic ocean where Cory's Shearwater and Gannet were encountered, through the Straits of Gibraltar and on into the Mediterranean Sea. (This was now 17th August) Had a nice surprise early in the day with a Turtle Dove flying around the ship and also two Swift flying south - and my best views of a Loggerhead Turtle.
Loggerhead Turtle
I was standing on a viewing point right at the front of the ship, when shortly before lunch, I picked up a small dinghy in my binoculars way off in the distance which I thought was a fishing boat - but 20 minutes later as we got closer to it, I realised it was full of people who seemed to be waving for help.
The Captain sailed by the dinghy - but only in order to be able to circle the ship around and pick them up for safety; they were all brought on board and taken in until we arrived in Palma de Majorca the following day.
Migrants waiting to be taken onboard
18th August - spent a nice day in Majorca where we did a trip to Soller; stopped off enroute at a mirador in Son Marroig where we had really good views of two Peregrine being mobbed by a couple of Ravens.
The following day saw us in Ibiza - where it was ridiculously hot - we had a quick walk around the port before returning to the ship with it's aircon I set up shop in the shade on deck seven, just scanning the marina There were lots of Yellow-legged Gulls but I did pick out two or three Audouin's Gulls, which were very nice to see.
Audouin's Gull
Audouin's Gull
We left Ibiza, back across The Med, which again produced very few sea birds - Cory's Shearwater being the only bird of note - but we did see plenty of Common Dolphin as we headed to our next port of call which was Cadiz.
21st in Cadiz - and again it was extremely hot - BUT - the hopper bus was right outside the port, so we decided to 'hop on!' It turned out to be a great way to see Cadiz - and we even had Monk Parakeet in the trees around the botanical gardens.
Another sea day - but much more productive - and probably the biggest surprise of the trip was about to present itself........... We were in the Atlantic, heading for Vigo; again, Cory's Shearwater; ten Common Tern heading South; a Sunfish; lots of Common Dolphin and...... when somebody shouted 'shark!' I wasn't expecting the fish below!
Hammerhead Shark
Our final port of Call was Vigo in the north of Spain. Once again a lovely place but unfortunately it was way too hot to be able to enjoy it, so once again, back to the ship and the shade of deck 7 to scan the marina. There were lots of Yellow-legged Gulls and some swift over the city - and a very confiding Mediterranean Gull
Med Gull
Yellow-legged Gull
Leaving Vigo, and another three sea days travelling back across the Bay of Biscay which gave us Finn Whale, Sperm Whale and Sei Whale - sadly all distant for images. Again, Biscay was almost devoid of birds and it wasn't until the 25th August, when we had just gone through the western approaches, we started seeing quite a few more seabirds - one Cory's Shearwater took a liking to the ship, landing on the stern on deck eight - but then couldn't take flight again. With the help of Abigail and Amy from the ORCA conservation team, we did our good deed for the day, safely returning the bird back to the sea where it belongs, which is wandering around the Atlantic Ocean.
In the English Channel on our final sea day heading for Tilbury we had a decent encounter with a Minke Whale.
BIG splash
This was just a short posting from my most recent trip; I've just had an operation on my ankle so will be grounded for a bit - but I'm pretty sure I have some local stuff to post
As always, thanks for stopping by - until the next time!!
