orca wildlife guides: tony chenery, tom free, …...charity no: 1141728 icelandic discovery july 12...

Charity No: 1141728 www.orcaweb.org.uk

Icelandic Discovery

July 12th – July 28th 2018

ORCA Wildlife Guides: Tony Chenery, Tom Free, Shenaz Khimji and Jenna Silk Friday 13th July 2018 After a lovely welcome from Saga and the wonderful passengers on the Thursday, we arose early for 6am on deck to begin our first watch. It was cool, cloudy, and drizzly, with some varying mist/ fog; however, we were pleased to see a smooth sea. Once Jenna was stowed away in her cabin preparing for the 09:45 presentation Tony had our first sighting of the trip, a MINKE WHALE! The minke’s dark smooth body appeared to the side of the ship twice before slipping away from view. Following shortly was our first, and only, harbour porpoise sighting for the day, a good view directly ahead of the ship before appearing again beside the ship giving Tony a rare view of its flank markings. After welcoming many new faces to the ORCA presentation and seeing some familiar ones too (one whom which Jenna has promised a puffin sighting… a debt owed from last year’s North Cape cruise), we were back up on deck in the glorious sunshine with further calm conditions. It wasn’t long before Jenna called the first dolphin sighting, two white beaked dolphins port ahead! Some lucky passengers were able to see them before they leapt away into the blue. All on deck were not waiting long however, as another two appeared ahead of the ship and came to view the bow, giving some lovely lingering views to us all. Another 4 were spotted a little later, as well as two larger pods of unidentified dolphins further in the distance. It was quieter after lunch, with no more cetaceans seen, but after hearing we were 80miles out to sea from Newcastle, a grey seal was spotted by Tom very close to the starboard side of the ship. Doubtful of what we’d seen, our doubts were swept aside as we had two further separate sightings of grey seal individuals, and in good view. Remarkable! We also sighted several bird species including: gannets, guillemots (and their chicks), razor bills, common scoters, manx shearwaters, kittiwakes, fulmars, great black back gull. So as for Friday 13th … thank you and good night!


Saturday 14th July 2018 The ORCA team were up on deck bright and early for 5:30am, and surprisingly it wasn’t long before a few passengers joined us as we approached Orkney. We were lucky to see a minke whale just in front of the ship surface a few times, before fleeing from the ship and, with a swish of its tail it was off. Soon after, Shanaz spotted 4 dolphins discretely passing close by, they didn’t show much of themselves so we were unable to identify the species before they slipped away into the ripples of the calm sea. We were also happy to call out our first puffin sighting! Some turns were spotted, as well as some eider ducks on approach to Orkney. This evening we were up on deck just after 7pm until 10pm, the conditions weren’t ideal with many white caps and some light rain. Although we saw 3 large congregations of birds diving for prey beneath the surface, there appeared to be no cetaceans lurking below in the water so unfortunately none were sighted.

Photos by Shenaz Khimji: (From top, left to right) - common scoters, great black backed gull, grey seal, kittiwake, harbour

porpoise, white sided dolphin, guillemots with chicks, guillemot and chick


Sunday 15th July 2018 The ORCA team awoke to a drizzly start to the day up on deck for 05:30am, Shetland is renowned for its rich abundance of marine life including sea birds, fish, and marine mammals. The sea conditions were variable on the way into Shetland with some white caps at times. Tony called “sighting”, as a minke whale presented itself port ahead. It surfaced a few times allowing us to appreciate its size, despite being the smallest of the rorqual whales, at ~10m in length. A couple of dolphins were seen however not enough of them was visible to identify their species. Some grey seals were also spotted. Jenna escorted on an excursion to Mousa Island on a boat with some of the passengers, 4 harbour porpoises were seen, one of which was possibly a calf. More seals were spotted on the trip and throughout the day by guests and ORCA members, common/ harbour seals and grey seals. In the evening a pod of around 5 dolphins were spotted by a passenger who alerted the ORCA team to them, they were too far out to identify the species. More dolphins were seen over the course of the evening but in fleeting glimpses. Tom also spotted a porpoise and some possible bottlenose dolphins! Black guillemots, shags, puffins, terns, and divers were some of the bird highlights for the day.

Photos by Tom Free (TF) and Shenaz Khimji (SK) - top, left to right: eider ducks in eclipse (SK), minke (TF), cormorant (SK),

great skewer (TF), eider ducks (TF), guillemots and razor bills (TF), puffin (SK),


Monday 16th July 2018 There was a heavy swell this morning when the ORCA team headed up on deck for 05:00am. The rain was coming down, with choppy waves and a varying misty visibility. It was a slow morning without any sightings until after breakfast, late morning, 3 harbour porpoises appeared (as if they’d come from under the ship!). Fortunately, the weather improved even if the sea did not. It was nearing 3pm when things got exciting; one of the ORCA team sighted a large pod of pilot whales far ahead in the distance heading towards us, with calves too! Some were spotted breaching and lifting their tail flukes from the water as they stooped under the waves. As this was happening, two slightly larger animals were tail lobbing (slapping their tails on the surface), and after much debate and comparison of photos, it was established that these were northern bottlenose whales (you may remember the whale that swam up the river Thames)! They’re deep diving beaked whales, a key identification feature of beaked whales is the absence of a central notch in the fluke, and it is instead convex, as you can see in the first photo below.

Grey seal (photo by Tom Free) Minke surfacing sequence (photos by Shenaz Khimji)


From here on, individuals and pairs of Northern bottlenose whales were sighted over the final few hours of the survey, but I’ll let the pictures say it all…

Northern bottlenose whales (Tom Free)

Pair of Northern bottlenose’s tail lobbing and surfacing (Shenaz Khimji)


Tuesday 17th July 2018 The ORCA team attempted to survey from 4am as we were in good waters for cetaceans, however with winds too strong it was unfeasible to survey. The team reattempted at 5am but to no avail. At 6:30am, once in the fjord, we were a little more sheltered on the stretch to Eskifjordur; however, no cetaceans were sighted in the fjord. In the afternoon, once out into open ocean, things got VERY exciting indeed. This report could be pages and pages long as we had over 50 recorded sightings (and several off-records in the evening including a basking shark!), so I will just give you the highlights for now. We had some close encounters at the bow of the ship with harbour porpoises, white beaked dolphins, and a minke whale. Northern bottlenose whales were spotted extremely frequently throughout the survey. Tony and Shenaz spotted a spy hopping cetacean that reared its head out of the surface a little way ahead, before slipping away, after a little deliberation it was concluded that the shape and behaviour of the animal is likely a killer whale (orca)! In the distance we were able to spot the splashes of a tail slapping humpback and identified the fluke shape from one of Tom’s photos!

Pod of pilot whales (Shenaz Khimji)


But a particular highlight that shortly followed was another breaching, tail slapping, fin-waving humpback whale a little way from the ship, we even ran down the back of the ship to point out the energetic whale to a few lucky passengers, and whilst they watched there were two more northern bottlenose whales passing! Reluctantly as the team packed away their survey equipment to go for dinner at 8pm a pod of passing dolphins could be seen with ‘rather large dorsal fins’, the team quickly got back out the binoculars and cameras and ran to the back of the ship. Tom got a photo of one pilot whale fin, yet the other dorsals seen by the team were certainly taller, and thinner but a better view wasn’t achieved as a large whale surfaced right by the pod of mystery animals, however this was also too far past to identify, sightings like this leave you wondering and debating with each other for days about what they could have been, but in a way the mystery is captivating… Some of the passengers that went on deck after their dinner, while we were in the verandah, saw much of what we’d seen, but also a much closer encounter with some killer whales! A passenger managed to get a photo of a tall black dorsal which is unmistakeable, such a feature is that of a large, bull orca.


Wednesday 18th July 2018 The morning began in the fjord towards Akureyri, the waters were mirror-calm with beautiful scenic views. We didn’t have to wait long before spotting our first whale blow ahead, the first of many. The fjord is renowned for humpback whales, and as such, is host to some busy whale watching businesses. With such calm conditions, the slight breaths from the resting humpbacks just floating slowly at the surface, were hanging in the air as if gravity was absent, an eerie yet stunning spectacle. Some of the humpbacks weren’t as restful, with one partially breaching, and others taking a dive lifting their flukes out of the water to help them sink gracefully below the surface. A mother and calf were also sighted together, which isn’t a regular occurrence in the fjord as mothers usually migrate to tropical warmer waters to give birth to their young, however they cannot feed in those warmer waters and eventually need to come back up to the cooler waters to feed on the small schooling fish and krill. In such smooth conditions we were able to spot a few pods of harbour porpoises, and even their minute blows were visible in the still air! A minke whale was also spotted close by to the starboard side of the ship, dark in colour, smooth, rounded, with a hooked dorsal fin, much unlike that of the humpbacks. In the evening the conditions weren’t so smooth in the fjord, so the ORCA team seized the moment to have an early dinner, so that we could be back on deck as we came back into open sea, though some of the remaining passengers out on deck spotted a humpback in the fjord.

Top - bottom, left - right: Humpback tail slapping, humpback dorsal fin, humpback pectoral fin, humpback fluke, harbour

porpoises, white beaked dolphins (Photos by Shenaz Khimji)


During the evening, as soon as we were back on deck, in the flat calm conditions we could already see some dolphins in the distance, a vastly spread out pod that kept us all alert for quite some time, they were confirmed as white-beaked dolphins with some views of their black and white contrasting patterning as they breached, with some approaching the ship, giving the passengers some beautiful views. There were further views of white-beaked dolphins for the rest of the evening along with one distant view of a whale’s tail fluke that did not reappear.

Top - bottom, left - right: Humpback in fjord, humpback fluke, white-beaked dolphin, minke whale, white beaked dolphin,

humpback blow and fin, white beaked dolphins (Shenaz Khimji)


Thursday 19th July 2018 In the early hours on the approach to Isafjordur the ORCA team were patient, and with a few early rising passengers, were greeted with a whale blow sighted by surveyor Tony on the port side towards land. The blow was seen a couple more times but unfortunately no good views of the body to identify the species. On approach to the harbour Jenna called “fluke”, ahead. The whale resurfaced towards the back of the ship, and with a good view of its dorsal fin was confirmed as a humpback whale. In the evening, the ORCA team dashed in for an early dinner to be back on deck towards open sea, during which time several passengers witnessed many blows in the fjord! When the ORCA team were back on deck ready to survey, we were graced with perfect conditions. Several pods of white-beaked dolphins were seen, with some coming in close to the bow giving passengers a lovely view of their patterning. We also had some of our best views of harbour porpoises, who were much more visible in the flat calm water.

Top-bottom, left-right:: White-beaked dolphins and puffin, white-beaked dolphins, arctic tern, puffin flock, puffin, razorbill

flock, razorbill and chick, harbour porpoise (Photos by Shenaz Khimji)


Friday 20th July 2018 The ORCA team arose on deck for 5:00am with calm conditions just like the night before. Very quickly we were greeted by some white beaked dolphins, in the calm conditions we were also able to spot several harbour porpoises as we slowly approached Grundarfjordur. As we got closer a passenger spotted the first sighting of a minke whale through her binoculars in the distance, it resurfaced only around 150m from the ship, and in such flat waters, we could even see it’s rostrum with the grooves of the blow hole! In total we had two sightings of white beaked dolphins, 9 porpoises, 4 minke whales, MANY puffins, a seal, and even a silver Y moth - a migratory species (Autographa gamma). Due to the high winds the Saga Pearl 2 had a slightly later departure, and upon checking with the bridge, the ORCA team were advised the winds would be around 20knots, which would be 40knots on the sun deck! As a result, the very short survey stint we had planned was not to be, but we would be up on deck for 4:00am on our approach to Reykjavik.

Top-bottom, left-right): Minke whale, Arctic skua (dark phase), minke whale, harbour porpoises, puffins, fulmar and jelly fish

(Photos by Shenaz Khimji)


Saturday 21st July 2018 There were misty conditions on the approach to Reykjavik, with less than 1km of visibility as opposed to approximately 20km when we can see to the horizon from the sun deck. Despite the fog, the ORCA team soon spotted the fins of two white-beaked dolphins surfacing to the starboard side near the bow. There were similar sightings near to the ship throughout the morning’s survey. With such low visibility, yet still a good number of sightings, it indicates that that area could well be very productive and we may have seen much more with full views. Tom also had a very nearby sighting of a harbour porpoise close to the ship. During the evening survey, the ORCA team didn’t have any luck with sighting cetaceans, except one whale blowing near to one of the distant whale watching boats, likely a minke whale due to its small blow. The sea conditions were unfavourable with many white caps, making spotting signs of cetacean activity difficult. There were a large number of fishing boats in the area we had hoped for great sightings due to the interesting bathymetry of many small canyons and sea mounts, highly productive structures that cause upwellings of nutrients, attracting prey species such as schooling fish, and thus predators. Unfortunately, we had no sightings. We did however accumulate a large flock of fulmars catching an easy ride on the updraft of the ship, perhaps 50+! There were also a few gannets diving into the water and some manx shearwaters skimming around.

Sunday 22nd July 2018 Sea conditions today were less favourable for cetacean spotting, as predicted by forecasts; combined with fog/ mist and rain. Nonetheless the ORCA team were up on deck for 05:00am. Despite the moderate swell and choppy waves a fin whale was spotted ahead at 05:50am, its blow gave it away and the team were able to get a look at it through the binoculars to ID the species from its dorsal fin. At around 07:15am a blue whale was sighted, and photographed, it even lifted its fluke out of the water as it took a deep dive. Blue whales are the largest animal to have existed on the planet, at around 33m in length! There were two more whale blows during the latter part of the morning, which we believe to be fin whales. But another highlight of the day was a small pod of four adult long-finned pilot whales, with a tiny calf! Unfortunately, there were no further sightings in the afternoon.

Fulmar - left, gannet – right (Photos by Tom Free)


Pilot whale with calf (Shenaz Khimji)

Top - bottom, left - right: Blue whale blowing, blue whale body, blue whale fluking sequence (Shenaz Khimji)


Monday 23rd July 2018 The ORCA team were pleased to find better than expected conditions on deck today, with clear views to the horizon, a reduced swell and less white caps than the day before. And it wasn’t long before we had our first sighting of the day, at 06:30am, a sperm whale with calf! They surfaced very close to the starboard side of the bow, giving some of the team the best view of a sperm whale they’ve ever had. There were no further sightings until later in the morning around 11:00am when a pod of acrobatic, breaching dolphins were seen in the distance, unfortunately we lost sight of them on approach and could not identify the species. But as soon as they’d vanished, a pair of pilot whales appeared, soon followed by three more! At 12:15pm we saw our first whale blow in the horizon on port side, a vertical pillar of dissipating white. As soon as lunch time hit, the ORCA team rushed to the Verandah as quickly as possible to get back up on deck as we’d just hit the sea mount we’d been waiting for, where deep meets shallow, a haven for beaked whales, larger whales, and pilot whales that dive deeper along steep edges for prey. And immediately the haste paid off, a passenger informed us that a whale was blowing directly ahead of the ship, and passed close to the starboard side, this was close to identify as a fin whale, the second largest animal on the planet, but also known as the greyhound of the sea as it can reach just under 30mph in bursts. They’re an endangered species that, unfortunately, Iceland are still targeting for whaling. It wasn’t long before another distant blow was spotted. At around 3:40pm we had another fin whale blowing ahead, again passing on the starboard side, giving the passengers on deck a fantastic view; mere minutes later another fin whale passed on the port side. In the afternoon and evening we had a further 7 large whale sightings, most were likely fin whales. We also had a sly pod of around 4 common dolphins, gliding below the surface on the starboard side of the ship, but not breaking the surface. And lastly, our busy day of sightings concluded with another beautiful view of some pilot whales passing on port side.


Tuesday 24th July 2018 As we were in the river Foyle by 4am being piloted on our way to Londonderry, there was no morning survey. However, Tony and Tom were on deck for the sail away looking at the birdlife, and possibly even a seal that a passenger pointed out. After an early dinner the ORCA team were back on deck for the last two hours of daylight, surveying the stretch of water between the coasts of Northern Ireland and west Scotland. Unfortunately, there were no sightings; just spectacular scenery, sunset, skies, and seas. We even spotted a ship passing in the opposite direction, upon which another ORCA team are heading to Iceland!

Top-bottom, left-right: Fin whales, pilot whales, sperm whales (Shenaz Khimji)


Wednesday 25th July 2018 The sun arose on our approach to Dublin, there were calm seas and beautifully coloured skies as the night before. Unfortunately, no cetaceans were sighted during the short survey before docking. Thursday 26th July 2018 The day began with fair sea conditions and a warm sunshine. The ORCA team were elated to see a pod of around 50 common dolphins in the early morning just before breakfast. This start was to set the trend for the rest of the day… As soon as the team were back up on deck, along with some passengers, a huge pod of over 75 common dolphins appeared at the bow of the ship again, putting on an acrobatic spectacle with some leaping vertically out of the water; the dolphins were coming towards the ship from every angle! 10 more common dolphins came to join the party, followed by another 5. During lunch a passenger approached the ORCA team as there were several blows in the distance, there were at least 4 minke whales feeding, lunging and breaching as they did; they remained in sight for around 30 minutes giving passengers a distant teaser. Minke whales don’t usually have visible blows, but with all of the commotion and their powerful efforts, on this rare occasion they were evident. The afternoon followed with several more large pods of common dolphins, with some given away by a large flock of diving birds, a feeding frenzy, but they couldn’t resist the lure of the bow waves and once again put on an impressive show.


Common dolphins (Shenaz Khimji)

Minke whale (Shenaz Khimji)


Friday 27th July The ORCA team were on deck for 05:30am, with good sea conditions, looking for marine mammals in the English Channel. With such an exciting trip almost at an end, it’s easy to think this last stretch couldn’t possibly compare; but from 06:10am for 50mins, three separate pods of bow-riding common dolphins soon extinguished those woes! And 4 harbour porpoises around lunch time. The OCRCA team would like to say a huge thank you the captain and crew of the Saga Pearl II for a fantastic cruise and for having us on board. We would also like to thank all of you for your support and company on deck. Goodbye for now….Jenna, Shenaz, Tony and Tom. A map of cetacean sightings from this cruise and a bird list can be found on the next two pages.

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Bird List from Icelandic Discover Cruise

Seen at Sea Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus) Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) Great Northern Diver (Gavia immer) Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra) Eider (Somateria mollisima) Gannet (Morus bassanus) Comarant (Phalacrocorax carbo) Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) Oyestercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) Redshank (Tringa totanus) Great Skua (Stercorarius skua) Arctic Skua (Stercorarius parasiticus) pale & dark morphs Black- Headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) Mediterranean Gull (Larus melanocephalus) Great Black- Backed Gull (Larus marinus) Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) Puffin (Fratercula arctica) Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle) Common Guillemot (Uria aaglge) inc. bridled form Razorbill (Alca torda) Lesser Black Backed Gull (Larus marinus) Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus) Storm Petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus)

Seen on Land Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) Hooded crow (Corvus cornix) Carion Crow (Corvus corone) Raven (Corvus corax) Rook (Corvus frugilegus) Jackdaw (Corvus mondedula) Magpie (Pica pica) Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) Robin (Erithacus rubecula) Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) House Martin (Delichon urbicum) Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) Blackbird (Turdus merula) Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula) Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria) Knot (Calidris canutus) Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) Dunlin (Calidris alpina) Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritima) Red Necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) Feral Pigeon (Columba livia) Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) Barrow's Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica) Greater scaup (Aythya marila) Gadwall (Anas strepera) Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) Red Throated Diver (Gavia stellata) Redwing (Turdus iliacus) Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) Redshank (Tringa totanus) Black- Tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) Slavonian Grebe (Podiceps auritus) Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) Buzzard (Buteo buteo) Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) Swift (Apus apus) Coot (Fulica atra) Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) Curlew (Numenius arquata)

orca wildlife guides: tony chenery, tom free, …...charity no: 1141728 icelandic discovery july 12...

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