Over a year ago I booked a two day trip to southern Ireland. Come the day of departure, a few twists and turns meant that I was now embarking on a 5 day cruise that involved a journey along the continental shelf along French and Spanish waters before heading north to the Celtic canyons south of southern Ireland. After this, we made our way east in the direction of the Isles of Scilly. The organisation of the trip was faultless with everyone being extremely well looked after on a very impressive ship, the MV Athena.

The trip gave me a wealth of knowledge which came from very informative tannoy announcements on all aspects from sea depths to id pointers on cetaceans. I have to say that the highlight of the trip for me was seeing a Fin Whale 20 - 30 yards from the ship. The sight of this creature at such close range was truly unforgettable.

MV Athena

On board the ship, a moth trap was ran each night and a group of branches strapped to a post on the top deck and named the oasis. This proved successful in attracting the birds and a bat. Viewing conditions from the boat were very good. It was easily possible to use a telescope and tripod. Photographic conditions were excellant. It was possible for me to have used my 600mm on a tripod but on this trip I chose to put my trust wholly on the Nikon D200 and Sigma 120-300mm lens with no teleconverter. Read on for a daily account of the trip.

In summary the totals for the trip: 1 little shearwater, 15 great shearwaters, 26 cory's shearwaters, 7 belearic shearwaters, 216 sooty shearwaters, 9 wilsons petrels (reported), 336 storm petrels, 60 bonxie, 11 arctic skua, 2 pomarine skua, 2 long-tailed skua, 24 sabines gulls, 4 black tern, 83 fin whale, 68 bottle-nosed dolphin, 199 common dolphin, 10 cuviers beaked whale, 11 risso-s dolphin, 1 sei whale, 1 short-eared owl, 1 purple heron, 1 grey phalarope (which may have been the dunlin), whimbrel, mediterranean gull, yellow-legged gull, turnstone. Passerines included: melodious warbler, garden warbler, reed warbler, wheatear, willow warbler, red-backed shrike, yellow wagtail, alba wagtail (incorrectly id'd as a white wagtail.The bird was a juvenile with no moulted coverts so should have been alba/yarelli),

Day 2

Day one was brief as the ship only set sail around 5PM. As we left the harbour 2 Sandwich Terns flew over and once out of the harbour the first Harbour Porpoise were soon spotted. Day 2 was the first full day. We encountered many whales plus fair numbers of dolphins and sea birds.

Fin Whale

The Fin Whale is the largest of the whales that we saw. This species varies in length from 18 - 27 metres in length. 83 in total were recorded on the trip.

Ocean Sunfish

The Ocean Sunfish to me is one of the most bizare of sea life. All of the 14 seen were close in to the ship. You had to be in the right place at the right time to see these as they quickly drifted towards the back of the boat.

Bonxie

Great Skua was regularly recorded but in smaller numbers than usual.

Sperm Whale

The Sperm Whale is identified by the triangular shaped fin and a squared off snout. 8 were recorded on the trip.

Willow Warbler

Several birds landed on board the ship on day two. This willow warbler was quite active and didn't stay for long.

Reed Warbler

This Reed Warbler generated quite a twitch. It first appeared in the Oasis and was then seen perched amongst the optics in the bar at the back of the boat. The bird was eventually put in a box to rest and then released in the evening.

Four-spotted Footman

This Four-spotted Footman came aboard late afternoon at the end of day two. This one is a male. The female is a tan colour with four black spots. A few were recorded on the ship including two females.

Day 3

Melodious Warbler

Melodious Warbler was not unexpected as one was seen last year and this species is on the move at this time of year. It was still a surprise to be told that one was hanging around the back of the boat. The bird seemed quite active and flew from around the ship perching mainly on wires above head height.

Yellow-legged Gull

We were fortunate enough to have some gull experts onboard. Amongst the Lesser Black-back Gulls were the occasional Yellow-legged Gull.

Cuvier's Beaked Whale

We only saw 10 Cuvier's Beaked Whales hence the poor photo. They can be identified by the pale head and often show scaring on the body. A widely distributed whale but infrequent in the Bay of Biscay.

Cory's Shearwater

26 Cory's Shearwater were seen in total on the trip, none of which came close enough for me to get any pleasing shots of. Still it was great to see these rather nice looking birds again.

Leislers Bat

I heard someone shout "bat" late afternoon. Looking in the direction he was pointing sure enough was a bat flying around. It was quickly reloated in the Oasis. The next day the same bat spent the whole day in the bar at the back of the boat attracting many onlookers.

Fulmar

Good numbers of Fulmars seen on the trip. They were well photographed from the back of the boat riding the ships slipstream.

Sooty Shearwater

Many Sooty Shearwaters seen. Whilst off Southern Ireland a count of 161 birds were in the wake of one fishing vessel. I did get some good shots of this species but accidentally deleted them. Hopefully they can be recovered. In the mean time these will do. This bird is separable from dark Mediterranean Shearwater by the silvery unerwings. The shape is also different.

Great Shearwater

We saw several Cory's before finally getting the first Great Shearwater of the trip. This bird was making passes across the back of the ship. I was pleased that some of the shots came out. The practice on Swifts earlier on the year had paid off. All flight shots on the trip were done with manual focus. Many times I have had trouble with the focus either focusing on the sea behind or have trouble seeing enough contrast on the subject to lock on to.

Sabines Gull

24 Sabines Gulls seen in total. A great bird but unfortunately most were distant.

Gannet

A common bird on the trip often following the boat. A popular photographic subject on the trip. This bird is in 2nd winter plumage.

Common Dolphin

What a treat to see dolphins. Often they would be seen coming towards the ship and ride on the bow before drifting towards the back and riding in the wake. We saw several species of dolphin: Striped, Bottle-nosed, Common and Risso's.

Kittiwake

Not many kittiwakes seen on this trip. This is one of 3 that I saw. It flew around the ship finally settling on the bow posing for photographs.