Common Dolphin ( including a melanistic one)

michael23

michael23

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Currently on holiday on the isles of scilly and have done a couple of pelagic trips, numbers of dolphin this year have been amazing, upto something like 500! Truly brilliant. Amongst these was also a melamistic form, something I have never seen before, so they are posted first.

Melanistic Common Dolphin by Michael Johnson, on Flickr

Melanistic Common Dolphin by Michael Johnson, on Flickr

Dolphin #1 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr

Dolphin #4 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr

Dolphin #11 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr

Dolphin #13 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr

Thanks for looking.
 
Superb,Michael…especially number 5. I've been on two Portsmouth to Santander trips (Brittany Ferries) with ORCA (I'm a member) specifically to see dolphins/whales and saw dolphins,even the fin of a Fin whale..maybe that's how they got their name, all you ever see is the fin..lol..could be true.. It was difficult to get shots as you never knew where they'd surface next then by the time you've focused they were back under. We spent two hours in Santander and sailed back on the same ship.You obviously got much better opportunities..
 
JohnC6 said:
Superb,Michael…especially number 5. I've been on two Portsmouth to Santander trips (Brittany Ferries) with ORCA (I'm a member) specifically to see dolphins/whales and saw dolphins,even the fin of a Fin whale..maybe that's how they got their name, all you ever see is the fin..lol..could be true.. It was difficult to get shots as you never knew where they'd surface next then by the time you've focused they were back under. We spent two hours in Santander and sailed back on the same ship.You obviously got much better opportunities..
Click to expand...

Thanks for looking John,I have been doing the isles of scilly every year since 2001, love being at sea and never miss a pelagic. The numbers of common dolphin were unbelievable, hard to put a number on it, but 500 roughly, they stayed with us for quite some time, showing off whilst bow riding! Not seen anythinglike it for quite some time. The boat is excellent to travel on and view, here is a pic looking down the boat to give you an idea

A boatwith a view by Michael Johnson, on Flickr

Here is some video of them too which I filmed from the bow of the boat.

View: https://youtu.be/HyJtN8usPgQ


And today 2 minke whales from the same boat, fairly close to the islands, only ever seen single numbers and not on every trip, this week has been brilliant.

2x minke whale by Michael Johnson, on Flickr
 
It don't matter how good or bad the photos are. ANY photo of a dolphin is good. Wonderful creatures!
 
JohnC6 said:
What a wonderful video, excellent quality too and the music is just right.Well done. It's an absolute joy to watch them having such great fun.

I'll google re. those boat trips as we've done two Santander trips and never seen anything like this. Were you on Scillonian 111 ?. https://www.islesofscilly-travel.co...eabirds-and-dolphins-from-the-scillonian-iii/

I found this too http://www.scillyboating.co.uk/about.htm
Click to expand...

Hi John, the scillonian 3 is the boat which does the journey from penzance to st mary's the jouney takes around 2.5 hours. I have seen common dolphin from there. The dolphin numbers this week have been more than I could have hoped for, better than previous years. But this is what I love about being at sea, the unpredictability and not knowing whats going to happen with no guarantees.

scillonian 3 #2 by Michael Johnson, on Flickr

If you look here this is the website of the sapphire and the pelagics. Joe (the sapphires skipper) has a blog here. The st mary's boatmen s association gives you details of all the inter island boats. Also another good boat trip to do is on seaquest, the glass bottom boat, Amazing when you see seals swimming underneath.
 
Many Michael,much appreciated. We'll go through those.That's a great photo of the boat too..looks just the job..not too small ,not too large.

It's 10.48 Sat. and right now my wife has her iPad checking out the hotels having decided it's better than B&B. Quite a few guests at the holiday cottages we go to in Cornwall,near Lizard take a 2-day trip to the Scillies during their stay but we may prefer to do a week there separately..we do two weeks twice twice a year in Cornwall but one is in winter.

As with you,I also love to be at sea and at 17 was in the RNVR at Liverpool..dad was gunnery officer on HMS Kent on Russian Convoys..survived it too to 89, told me I needed some discipline..lol.

Ok.My wife wants to go here. That didn't take her long..lol..island of Bryher..Hell Bay Hotel. It's why I have to go busking at weekends..lol http://www.hellbay.co.uk.J
ust checked it myself..a tad expensive.Mmmm. Maybe best to stick with St. Marys..esp. re: boat trips.

I also love to photograph birds and I hear that's good there too...any wildlife really so once we decide to do a trip,we do it. Tripadvisor giving it 4.5/5 headline review.
If you have any other advice/info. maybe you could pm me as there's a limit to what is acceptable in a post other than photos.
 
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Sounds great. I did a dolphin trip on a small RIB a few years ago. No photos of the dolphins were really worth sharing but the experience was fantastic.
 
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