Surveying the seals

So, my old nemesis wind reared its ugly head throughout October and there was no opportunity to do any surveying. I did, however, have a trip to the Calf of Man to look forward to at the end of October. On the 29th I, along with two other volunteers, Emma and Steve, caught a boat from Port St Mary over to the small island off the South West coast of the Isle of Man.

Calf of Man

On arrival, previous seal volunteer Mike (who had been stuck there for an extra 10 days due to bad weather!) showed us around half of the island's sites before jumping on the boat and making his long overdue getaway! Emma, Steve, and I found our own way around to check out the remaining pupping sites and to the observatory which was to be our home for the next week.

Observatory

Beginning the following day we easily fell into a routine of breakfasting, arming ourselves with a thermos of tea, and heading out to one side of the island to do a pup count and conduct a three hour behavioural survey at one of the pup sites. Watching the fluffy pups and their protective mothers for three hours results in much 'aahing' at the cuteness and amusement at the sometimes unnecessary aggression of the feisty mothers. We would then return to the Observatory for lunch, before walking round to the other side of the island to complete the daily pup count.

Surveying at Grant's Harbour

Surveying at the Puddle

All the seal pups born on the Calf are named, with a different letter used each year. This year was 'N', and we were able to name six pups during our visit which was very cool, but tricky to come up with new N names when 47 have already been taken! We discovered four new pups on 31st October, known as Hop Tu Naa on the Isle of Man, so named one pup Naa in honour of the festival.

An 'almost finished' pup, Noosh

Brand new pup, Naa

Aggression between two protective mothers

Young pup suckling

The observatory is also home to the Calf warden, Nick, and an ornithological warden, Jodie. Jodie very kindly showed any interesting birds she caught for ringing each morning, which included a beautiful woodcock and the adorably tiny goldcrest, both of which were firsts for me. She also kindly let each of us ring a blackbird on our last morning, again something I have never done before, so a lovely bonus to the seal work.

Beautiful woodcock

Tiny, tiny goldcrest

Ringing the blackbird

Whilst walking around the island and sitting for hours surveying the seals, there was plenty of other wildlife to keep an eye out for, mostly avian but there was an abundance of rabbits too, as well as the Manx Loaghtan sheep. I was delighted to spot at least one female hen harrier every day, but am still yet to see a beautiful grey male. I also spotted ravens, kestrels, curlew, grey wagtails, rock pipits, and stone chat.

One of many, many rabbits

Raven

Spot the robin

Manx Loaghtan sheep

After a beautiful week on the Calf, I came back to a day that was finally calm enough to get a bit of surveying done. In an hour at Port St Mary I had a few sightings of harbour porpoises, including one group of three with a juvenile. After enjoying a long overdue cetacean sighting, it was time for a little bonfire celebration on Peel beach. My C-PODs are due to come out of the water next week, so I will be keeping an eye on the weather for an opportunity to get out on the boat and retrieve them.

Peel castle

Toffee apple by the bonfire

Grand finale!

Oooh!

Aaah!

Indian-ish Summer

Well, as Septembers go the weather has been pretty good here. It has been fairly mild, with little rain, and most importantly the wind has been quite low at times. I've managed to do more surveying this month than I did in July or August.

On Wednesday 10th, alongside some other work and data entry, I spent two and a half hours at Port St Mary, but unfortunately didn't spot any cetaceans. It was too misty for surveying on Thursday, so it was an indoor work day. The Manx Wildlife Trust put out a call for volunteers to spend a week on the Calf of Man surveying the grey seals during the pupping season. So, keen to get some new experience and visit the Calf, I put my name down to go over in late October. The visibility was still poor on Friday so we headed out to watch some of the rallying. First, up on the heathery hillside, and later in the evening down in Castletown.

Heathery hill

Dusty corner

For Kayleigh

For Stuart

On Sunday I surveyed for 2 hours at the Calf but saw nothing, but was luckier on Monday managing to spot a few harbour porpoises during a three hour survey at Port St Mary. Over the next few days I had to look after an adorable alsation/lab puppy whilst the owners were out, but managed to fit in a survey at both the Calf and Port St Mary but with no sightings.

Knowing Saturday was going to be too windy for surveying I took the bus to Douglas in the morning to visit the Manx Museum. After an enjoyable visit exploring the history of the Isle of Man I walked from Douglas back to Peel, an easy journey of about 10 miles along the Heritage Trail following the old railway route. There was an abundance of blackberries along the way, so I did a little collecting as I was walking. Once home I put the blackberries to good use by adding them to a bottle of brandy, it should be ready just in time for Christmas!

The Heritage Trail

Old rail crane

The following day I was able to do plenty of surveying with two hours at the Calf and two and a half at Port St Mary. However, I saw no cetaceans, and had the disappointment of spotting a dead seal whilst at the Calf. It was quite distant, and hard to get a good look at whilst it was bobbing around in the water, but it appeared to be entangled in fishing gear.

The weather took a bit of a turn here, with a string of days when it just wasn't quite good enough for surveying. So I spent my time on general office work, data entry, photo ID, reading, and some analysis planning for my project.

Sunday, however, was a good survey day. The weather held out for the whole day and I managed to do a three hour watch at each of my sites. Whilst I saw nothing at the Calf, I enjoyed watching a group of Risso's dolphins for the entire survey at Port St Mary. At first there appeared to be just two or three dolphins, but as I watched I realised there was a group of six, including two calves. I returned to Port St Mary for a one hour survey on Monday and saw Risso's dolphins again, most likely the same group of four adults and two calves. It's nice to know there are still a few around!

Evening light at the Calf

A long time coming

Well, it's been far too long since my last update but I have been keeping busy, I promise! Oh lord... there's a month to catch you up on. This could be a long one, you might want to make a cup of tea first.

After my family left following their much enjoyed holiday I was desperately hoping for some improvement to the weather so I could get out surveying, but no such luck. So, I stuck to various bits and bobs of office work, reading, and acquainting myself with the C-POD analysis software. I also worked on a press release about my project, to encourage members of the public to report cetacean sightings to add to my data.

On the evening of 13th August, Alex and I took a trip to Douglas to check out Summerhill Glen, which is lit up each evening.

Dinosaurs, of course

Plastic bottle chandelier

Changing colours

Summerhill Glen

Lights on the water

The following day, despite the conditions not being brilliant, Alex and I did a three hour watch at Port St Mary and had five sightings of porpoises and saw two Risso's dolphins which was brilliant. Things were a little too rough at the Calf to survey there, and unfortunately, the next day we managed just 45 minutes before conditions deteriorated.

Rough conditions at the Calf

So, more office work abounded, including compiling tide times to look at alongside my C-POD data, and sorting out a list of things I need to remember on the boat when we go out to check the pods.

Wednesday 20th we attempted a watch at Port St Mary in the morning but it wasn't quite good enough. We headed back after lunch with the repaired theodolite and managed a fleeting glimpse of a harbour porpoise. I also heard that following my press release to local media, I have been asked to do an interview for Manx Radio.

We had a few more days of office work before we headed down to Port St Mary for the Deep South Music Festival on Saturday and Sunday. The layout was a little scattered around a field meaning it was a little tricky enticing people in to talk to us as they wanted to head straight to the music, or take the kids to the bouncy castle! But we did speak to people on both days, and those we spoke to were very interested in our work and many made a small donation to us which is always great. It is only in its second year I believe, and hopefully it will continue to grow over the next few years.

On the Sunday of Deep South Tom and I helped Jen and Alex set up the stall then went down to the harbour at Port St Mary to meet our survey boat so we could head out to check the C-PODs. We passed the C-POD near to Port St Mary and headed out to Calf West where we managed to successfully haul the pod, change the batteries and SD card, and redeploy. Everything seems to be in full working order so fingers crossed for some good detections on there. We then headed back to do the pod at Port St Mary only to discover that the high water and strong tide had pulled the surface buoy underwater and out of sight so we couldn't locate it. After a little searching in vain we decided to head North to Langness region to try and track down a lone bottlenose dolphin which has been seen hanging around the area almost every day for weeks now. We managed to spot it, despite its erratic surfacings, and got one decent shot of the right side of the dorsal fin for ID. It appears that it is not a fully grown adult, and it is not especially well marked, again suggesting it is relatively young, so it may well be a young adult that hasn't established itself in a pod yet. We returned to see if the C-POD buoy had resurfaced but with no luck, so headed back to harbour and swapped with Jen and Alex to let them go with the boat back round to Peel and do a survey, whilst Tom and I stayed at the festival feeling a little dejected at our unsuccessful C-POD search.

Unfortunately, the conditions were really quite bad, and the poor girls got completely drenched on the way home with not even a cetacean sighting to cheer them up! They did however do something to cheer me up, which was to find the C-POD in Port St Mary. By the time they went out the tide had dropped enough for the buoy to re-appear and our brilliant skipper 'Duke' attached another float to it to hopefully prevent it from happening again.

Lone bottlenose dolphin

On Tuesday, as the weather was not good enough for surveying, I took a quick look at the C-POD data from the Calf and found LOTS of porpoise clicks, and even some dolphins in there too, so it will be exciting to delve into this more deeply. In the evening, Alex and I headed down to Peel Castle, one of the Isle of Man's many dark sky sites to check out the stars and see if we could get any good photographs. It was a little chilly sitting down there by the water, but very beautiful.

Peel Castle

Stars over the castle

Wednesday morning I went to the Manx Radio studio in Douglas for my interview then headed back for some more office work. Jen and I took Alex out to see a few laps of the Manx Grand Prix on Friday for her last day on the island, and we watched from a great site where the riders whizzed by very close to our perch on a wall.

MGP rider

Capturing the action

After taking Alex to the airport on Saturday morning, I was dropped off in Port Erin so I could walk some of the coastal path. The day started off very nicely, then as I gained some altitude I walked in to a big cloud and lost visibility. But it was still very pleasant walking amongst all the heather and gorse. I foraged a few blackberries along the way, and enjoyed the walk despite my trusty 12 year old walking boots finally breaking on me.

Starting from Port Erin

The goal - looking north towards Peel

Dry stone wall

Lots of heather and gorse

Field grasshopper

On Sunday the weather allowed for a one hour watch at Port St Mary, but no sign of any cetaceans, so I returned home to make a cake for Jen's birthday! Monday I again managed one hour at Port St Mary, but again with no cetaceans, so I took the time to make sure things are sorted to head out on the boat tomorrow to check the C-POD we didn't get to last time.

Tom and I set out from Peel about 9am, and took the longer route around the back of the Calf, rather than through the Sound to get to Port St Mary. It was good that we did, as we spotted a mother and juvenile Risso's dolphin along the way. We took a few photographs of them before continuing to the C-POD, which we successfully located and hauled, changing the batteries and card. Everything looks in good working order again, and hopefully there will be good detections. We continued the day with a survey, though conditions weren't as good as we would have hoped offshore, we did encounter a group of Risso's around where we had seen the previous two. There appeared to be around 6, including the mother and juvenile, though they were spread over quite an area and appeared to be feeding. We also spotted a few porpoises, and a skua, which we don't see too many of around here. Jen did some surveying at the Calf in the afternoon and saw what appeared to be the same group of Risso's, so they seemed to be in the area for some time, perhaps even close enough to be detected on my C-POD.

Mother and juvenile Risso's dolphin

Leaping Risso's

Not brilliant picture of a skua

Mother and juvenile harbour porpoise

The following day was much better weather wise and I surveyed for an hour at Port St Mary, and three hours at the Calf, but unfortunately with no sign of any cetaceans. In the evening I had the strange experience of listening to myself on the radio, being broadcast on the Shiaght Laa show at about 6.20pm.

Thursday I surveyed two hours at Calf West with no luck. Friday I headed out in the morning but the visibility was far too poor so I returned home to try again in the afternoon when I did an hour survey at Port St Mary, with no cetacean company. Throughout the beginning of September there have been numerous reports of minke whales sighted from the north east of the island so on Saturday we headed up to Laxey and Maghould head to see if we could spot any. It seems we just missed them at Maghould, as by the time we returned home there was a report waiting for us of two seen shortly before we were there.

During a one hour survey at Port St Mary on Monday, I finally caught sight of a cetacean, spotting one porpoise. However, the best day was certainly Tuesday. Conditions were pretty good, and I enjoyed a very brief sighting of two Risso's dolphins at Port St Mary, before heading to survey at Calf West. I spent two and a half hours watching a calm sea in the lovely evening light. I caught sight of three Risso's dolphins and watched them for a while before they moved out of sight to the North. But it seems they only went off to get some friends, as about 20 minutes later a group of six, including a mother and juvenile pair, came back in to view. Though still quite a distance from where I was sitting, I even managed to take a few pictures, and enjoyed views of them leaping before disappearing in to the sunset. Evenings like that make hours of surveying without sightings worth it.

Two Risso's dolphins

Risso's leaping in the evening light

The wind is my enemy

That title sounds like it could be the beginning to some epic poem - the modern day mariner's tale. Alas, it reflects life as a marine mammal researcher in the middle of the Irish Sea! Surveys are pretty weather dependent, add even just a little wind to the equation and the sea often becomes too rough to spot cetaceans, especially smaller species such as harbour porpoise.

Last Monday, even though conditions weren't good enough for a proper survey, I took Jen and new volunteer Alex down to Port St Mary to set up the theodolite and show them how it works. We also popped down to the Sound to show Alex the survey site and managed to spot lots of gannets diving, but no sign of any cetaceans.

With Tuesday having been an office day, on Wednesday morning I took a quick stroll up Peel hill and along to Corrin's tower, before heading back to the office to tackle the photo-ID from our last boat trip. We managed to photograph around 15 dolphins, all of which are new to Manx waters!

Peel from Corrin's tower

Left and right sides of the same dolphin

Photo-ID shot 

After playing around with a few test sightings from the theodolite I took it out again to get some more readings to check it was plotting really accurately. I had thought I was being really clever by combining the huge long equation to convert angles into lat-long in one cell in Excel, but turns out this rounds the numbers too much and makes the lat-longs pretty inaccurate. So, I split up the equation and am happy that I can plot really accurate cetacean sightings from the theodolite now... if only I could get out to survey them!

With the wind forecast to drop on Friday afternoon, we headed out on the boat about 1.30 for a survey. Unfortunately, the wind wasn't cooperative so the conditions weren't great but OK in places, Tom and Jen spotted a minke whale, and we saw a few porpoises, so not all bad.

On Saturday my parents, sister, and grandmother arrived for a holiday on the island. With the wind still preventing surveying I was able to be touristy, and show them around the beautiful sights without feeling too guilty about shirking work.

Tourist mode fully engaged, we struck out on Sunday to take the steam train from Port Erin to Douglas, caught the horse tram along Douglas promenade, and then the electric railway up to Groudle Glen. From there it was a walk through the glen to another steam train out to Sea Lion rocks, former site of a 'zoo' housing a polar bear, and some sea lions... crazy Victorians!

Steam trains

Douglas horse tram

Cafe at Sea Lion Rocks

The old 'zoo'!

Monday was windy but sunny, so we made for Peel Castle and the House of Manannan, before enjoying a lovely sunset in Port Erin. On Tuesday we enjoyed a stroll around Cregneash, before taking a delicious lunch of Queenies at the Sound Cafe. There was a brief moment at the Sound when I thought the weather might be good enough for a survey. I even managed to spot a few porpoises to point out to my sister and Dad. However, it quickly began to rain, and the fog descended, completely reducing the visibility. I had intended to teach an interested friend of Tom's how to use the theodolite, but much to my dismay, unpacked it after lunch to discover the display is not working. I fear it may have gotten a little damp, it's currently off to be examined and hopefully repaired, fingers crossed it can be fixed.

Port Erin sunset

From Peel Castle

On Wednesday we picnicked in the beautiful, sunny grounds of Rushen Abbey which were a-buzz with insect activity. Many were so busy stocking up on nectar they didn't seem to mind having their photo taken. We made a stop of at the impressive Laxey Wheel before heading home, where I wrote a short article about my research project to be featured in the PTES magazine Wildlife World.

Common blue danselfly

Marmalade hoverfly

Honey bee

Buff-tailed bumble bee

Large white butterfly

Common blue butterfly

On Thursday we took a picnic up to the Point of Ayre, a beautiful pebble beach at the very North of the island. I kept my eyes peeled for cetaceans, but no luck, though there was a seal bobbing around. There was other life about though, including some mating common blue butterflies which were very skittish and tricky to photograph, but I got an OK shot in the end.

Ringed plover

Common blues making babies!

After checking out the Royal Manx Agricultural Show on Friday morning, the wind decided to let up enough to let the sea flatten out and I headed down south to do a two hour survey at the Sound. The conditions were brilliant and I managed to spot two very distant minke whales as well as two groups of porpoises. One of two adults and two calves, the other two adults and one calf. Both groups appeared to be feeding and were in the vicinity of my C-POD, so I should have some excellent detections on there. It was great to be able to get out and see some cetaceans - it's been a while!

Calm Friday evening waters under the moon

Now, with the remnants of Hurricane Bertha sweeping across the British Isles the weather is still not playing nice, and unfortunately doesn't look set to improve any time soon. So, looks like the office chair and I will be coming extremely well acquainted over the next few days...