Dolphins

JohnC6

JohnC6

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We went on a whale/dolphin watch trip with ORCA from Portsmouth to Santander(N.Spain) on Brittany Ferries last week.

As we crossed into 4000 metre deep water approaching Santander we caught sight of the fin of a Fin whale,the other sightings were Striped Dolphins. It's not as easy as you'd think-or at least as I thought. First you will spot the pod,then you have to locate them through the lens and by then they've gone under so you have to guess where they will leap out next but at least they seem to keep a straight line.

1/2000 sec at f8...f8 because my 400mm f5.6 lens with the 1.4X loses a stop.

The adult dolphins are about 2.4metres (8Ft) long but still make a small target unless they are very near the ship.Brittany Ferries are very generous to the ORCA organisation and allocate the aft part of deck 10 for those signed up for the trip. We were 35 metres above the ocean.

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Lovely beasts aren't they, always look like they're having fun
I'm off dolphin hunting (from shore) up Inverness and beyond on Thursday so hope I can get some nice shots of them too
 
Great shots, and yeah, very difficult to anything much more than a tail fin disappearing back into the water!


BruceMo said:
I'm off dolphin hunting (from shore) up Inverness and beyond on Thursday so hope I can get some nice shots of them too
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After a 2 year gap, we get back to Chanonry on Saturday evening, can't wait :D
 
GoLotus said:
Great shots, and yeah, very difficult to anything much more than a tail fin disappearing back into the water!




After a 2 year gap, we get back to Chanonry on Saturday evening, can't wait :D
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Thats where I'm heading. maybe see you up there (y)
Ive had some great times up there and once had a mum and baby dolphin putting on a show around 20 feet from the beach. Did I have a camera with me though? :bang:
Heading up Thursday then see what happens, but I have a few new photo toys to play with, so likely stay for weekend too
 
LOL always the way! I've spent a lot of hours stood on that beach over the years waiting for the dolphins to come in, and when they do finally show up its quite something isn't it. We probably won't arrive in the area until late on Saturday (staying near Stirling for the red kite feeding at Argaty), will try and get down to Chanonry then, but it might be late enough we don't bother until Sunday morning. Looks like good weather for it anyway :D
 
Many Thanks.

One of the guides (they're volunteers doing a great job) on the ship saw them on the LCD and asked me to send them to ORCA HQ. I did that and today got a reply asking if they could use them ..with accreditation. I'm more than pleased to help 'The Cause'.

Each pod and individual sighting was logged and all the information gathered over the seasons and the data forms the basis of persuading the government (In whatever area I assume) to create Marine Conservation areas.Very little was known about the cetacean population in the Bay of Biscay until this research started feeding back data.

I should have posted this link with the photos http://www.orcaweb.org.uk

I've heard it gets a bit crowded at Chanonry Point but worth a visit.
 
JohnC6 said:
Many Thanks.

One of the guides (they're volunteers doing a great job) on the ship saw them on the LCD and asked me to send them to ORCA HQ. I did that and today got a reply asking if they could use them ..with accreditation. I'm more than pleased to help 'The Cause'.

Each pod and individual sighting was logged and all the information gathered over the seasons and the data forms the basis of persuading the government (In whatever area I assume) to create Marine Conservation areas.Very little was known about the cetacean population in the Bay of Biscay until this research started feeding back data.

I should have posted this link with the photos http://www.orcaweb.org.uk

I've heard it gets a bit crowded at Chanonry Point but worth a visit.
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That's excellent to get your shots used, nice one
I've been there loads of times over the years and never seen what you'd call busy, especially considering the spectacular shows they put on and a pretty impressive riptide
Well worth a visit and I'm a few years overdue my fix (y)
 
Looks good to me,Bruce. Much closer too. We'll put that location back on the agenda then.

My wife's from Scotland so she's always pleased to go back up there..anywhere up there..Lol.
 
Great shots. I'll never forget the first time I saw wild dolphins, I was so excited!
 
viv1969 said:
Great shots. I'll never forget the first time I saw wild dolphins, I was so excited!
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I second that. I went out on a little boat trip in Cromarty with EcoVentures to try and spot some and was lucky enough to see lots on my first visit. Got a few leaping from the water shots too, although at that time I was even more of an amatuer photographer!

Nice shots OP, you do have to be pretty quick to get these pics.
 
Ecoventures is a great trip out, but it looks like we'll miss it this week - they are fully booked :(
 
Loving all these dolphin pics coming up on here ! I'll look into that trip and maybe surprise the wife ;)
 
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