Sootys, Minkes and more - Staithes pelagic, 2nd Sep '24

Sooty Shearwater checking out a Humpback....

More from last week's epic whale-dominated pelagic trip... as well as the Humpbacks and treble figures of Minkes, we'd also 35+ Sooty and a few Manx Shearwaters, nine Arctic and three Great Skuas, lots of terns including three Black, and plenty of other seabirds...

Another distinctive Minke dorsal to add to the database

.... but two stand-out highlights were non-seabirds, both of which tried to land on the boat more than five miles out to sea, obviously tired and / or disorientated on their journeys by the fog - a Kestrel and a Grey Heron:

Black Terns feeding many miles out at sea

Arctic Skua (above) and a very happy team (below)

Sooty Shearwaters