Sowerby’s Beaked whales and much more!
20 – 29 April 2007 Biscay survey by The Company of Whales

The Company of Whales was proud to launch the 2007 Bay of Biscay season with a special cruise to Northern Spain. For the first time ever, delegates of the European Cetacean Society Conference were offered the opportunity to whale watch all the way to and from the conference by travelling through the Bay of Biscay. With the conference venue just down the road from Bilbao in the delightful city of San Sebastian, this was the perfect opportunity to take the scenic route for Europe’s annual cetacean conference. During the cruise The Company of Whales gave survey training to around 30 people, who took part in collecting effort-based survey data following the standard ORCA methodology - to be submitted to the ORCA database.

The following report details the amazing number and variety of encounters on what was the first Company of Whales Biscay cruise of the season:
We began our first watch early in the morning on the first day as we headed out of the English Channel and into the Bay of Biscay. The weather could not have been better with a sea state 2, although visibility was reduced at times due to fog.

Straight off the bat we were encountering cetaceans. Before we had even had chance to set up the survey equipment we had our first group of Common Dolphins racing past, apparently uninterested in the ship – what a start! As we settled down for a full day of watching, we chanced upon our only Minke Whale of the trip – sneeking past us on the starboard side, it turned and rode in the ship’s wake behind us. As visibility dropped we headed down from the Monkey Island for an hour. Closer to sea level, we were able to pick up several small groups of Harbour Porpoise passing by.

By this time we were heading due south to the west of Ouessant and the fog retreated to allow us back up onto our whale watching platform. Our next sighting was in stark contrast to the Common Dolphins we had seen gracefully moving across the water earlier in the day. Ahead of the ship we saw a beak clear of the water, immobile. As we approached we realised that it was a dead Common Dolphin entangled in fishing gear. The animal was incredibly fresh, and was estimated by Nick, our guest pathologist, to have been killed within the last 48 hours and possibly just hours before. We quickly passed two more dead dolphins before encountering a trawler vessel (the only one of the entire cruise). Yanni, who studies cetacean bycatch with IFREMER in France, took a look at the GPS positions of the sightings and commented that this was a known ‘hotspot’ for bycatch as a result of pelagic trawling for Sea Bass.

Heading further south we were soon cheered up by a string of live dolphin sightings. A few Bottlenose Dolphin groups passed by, along with more Common Dolphins, six Striped Dolphins and the rarity highlight of the day – four Risso’s Dolphins. Although they were distant, their large, dark dorsal fins and pale backs rendered them unmistakable!

The day ended with a quiet spell as we entered deep water, but by then we were all satisfied with some excellent cetacean encounters, as well as the sight of migrating Swallows, flocks of magnificent Gannets and a bizarre Horsefly that found Mat’s hairstyle a more-than-adequate substitute for some tall vegetation!

After a great week a the European Cetacean Society Conference in beautiful San Sebastian, we boarded P&Os Pride of Bilbao once more in eager anticipation of the return crossing. Once again we were blessed with fabulous weather with excellent visibility and a sea state 2. Back on Monkey Island and assisted by a light south easterly breeze, we were soon enjoying the aerial spring migration as several species of land and shore bird passed by on their way north. Small parties of Swifts and Swallows flew past at eye level, whilst flocks of Whimbrel hugged the waves as they headed northward. We also saw a flock of Cormorants, whilst a White Wagtail joined us for the entire afternoon, searching for insects around the deck. The bird highlight though, was undoubtedly a female Marsh Harrier which exceeded our speed of 20mph as she flew steadily in a north-easterly direction.

Of the day’s cetaceans, the undoubted highlight was almost the first thing that we saw. Shortly after a group of dolphins raced past on our port side but remained unidentified, we located two beaked whales directly ahead of the ship. Amazingly, they turned towards us, revealing their long beaks which protruded clear of the water as they surfaced. “Sowerby’s Beaked Whales” came the shout, as we all took our cameras out and started clicking. The animals approached closely before diving, giving us outstanding views of a species which has still only been seen alive by a handful of lucky people.

Sea conditions were excellent for spotting beaked whales, and before long we had more sightings. Two groups of Cuvier’s Beaked Whales passed close by and another pair of unidentified ‘beaked whale-sized’ animals also caught our attention. By now we were heading away from the canyons of Southern Biscay and into deeper water. Here we came across numerous groups of common and striped dolphins. Some were small, others involved groups of 50 or more individuals. The two species were present alone, near each other, and also in mixed groups, keeping us constantly on our toes when it came to identification.

Not to be outdone in terms of an ID challenge, we also had three challenging encounters with rorqual whales. Unfortunately, whilst all were reasonably close, none gave us the classic side-on profile that simplifies identification. The result was a Fin/Sei Whale, a Fin/Blue Whale and a probable Fin Whale! As the sun set and the last few dolphins of the day raced into the bow, we all headed to the Posh Bar for a well deserved celebratory drink!

Thick fog was forecast for our final day in the English Channel so it was no surprise that many of our guests found it tough to leave the comfort of their cabins after a tiring week. For those braving the early morning mist though, such as birthday boy Dan, the immediate reward was a large group of 50 Common Dolphins surrounding the ship in small sub-groups. As the morning progressed the weather deteriorated and there were to be no more cetaceans. Still, the Gannets flew past by the squadron and Manx Shearwater was added to the bird list, whilst our friendly White Wagtail remained on Monkey Island, determined to hitch a free ride all the way from Spain to the UK.

The Company of Whales would like to say a big thanks to everybody who travelled with us through the Bay of Biscay and assisted with the collection of survey data.

Cetaceans: 1 Fin Whale (probable), 1 Minke Whale, 4 Cuvier’s Beaked Whale, 2 Sowerby’s Beaked Whale, 22 Bottlenose Dolphin, 95 Common Dolphin, 73 Striped Dolphin, 4 Risso’s Dolphin, 6 Harbour Porpoise, 101 unidentified dolphins, 3 bycaught dolphins, 55 Common/Striped Dolphins, 2 large rorquals, 2 unidentified beaked whales.

Other wildlife: Gannet, Fulmar, Great Skua, Kittiwake, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, large diver sp., 1 Cory’s Shearwater, 1 Manx Shearwater, 1 Balearic Shearwater, 1 probable Little Shearwater, 30 Whimbrel, 1 Dunlin, 20+ Sandwich Tern, 15 Cormorant, 15+ Swallow, 8+ Swift, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 White Wagtail, 1 Marsh Harrier.

ORCA would like to thank The Company of Whales for continuing to support our important research work through the provision of data.

The Company of Whales and ORCA have teamed up to produce a Survey Training Trip across the Bay of Biscay on 22nd – 25th June 2007. For further information please click here: http://www.orcaweb.org.uk/training_trip.htm The Company of Whales has been running whale, dolphin and bird-watching holidays since its inception in 1996. Based in the heart of the beautiful Shetland Islands, where it shares its offices with award-winning sister company Shetland Wildlife, it is now firmly recognised as the largest and most experienced company operating in one of the world's premier wildlife-watching locations - the Bay of Biscay. For further information visit www.companyofwhales.co.uk