The last of the whales

....for now at least, as other commitments take priority and sea / weather conditions deteriorate here at Filey (there are still odd Minkes out there, but optimum conditions have passed, at least for the time being). An amazing week or so, to be fully summarised here and elsewhere soon; for now though, photos from, and of, my preferred watchpoint on the end of Carr Naze on the Brigg. There were few places I'd rather have been.

A juvenile Minke in the bay (and our whale-watcher comrade Chris, from Leeds, on the right)

Looking east along the Brigg from the watchpoint

Looking out to sea (Scarborough and Long Nab in the distance)

Minke Magic

It's turning out to be quite a summer for whales here on the Yorkshire coast, and today's cetacean spectacle was one to remember for a long time. Sightings of one or two Minke Whales have been pleasingly regular over the last ten days or so, stretching back to the ones just off Whitby harbour we were lucky enough to have the company of on the 6th; since then, we've had singles off the Brigg here at Filey on most days since, and other watchpoints to the north of us have also registered odd sightings.




A couple of days ago, one was sadly found dead on the beach at South Bay, Scarborough, prompting fears that 'our' whale had tragically succumbed to entanglement in crab and lobster pot lines. Tragic indeed, but we'd a strong suspicion there were actually various individuals patrolling our stretch of the coast.



Come this morning, and with a calm North Sea bathed in warm sunshine, we watched, and steadily picked up whales in different directions and at different distances.... half an hour's co-ordinated effort by four of us, scanning together from the top of Carr Naze, produced a minimum of six Minkes simultaneously gracing Filey's inshore waters, and I don't think any of us would be too surprised if there turned out to be a dozen out there. Magical.

Whitby Minkes

25 degrees celsius, a millpond ocean, clear blue skies, whales and shearwaters within a few minutes of boarding the boat? No, not California, Sydney or Massachusetts, but the glorious North Yorkshire coast. More specifically Whitby, less than an hour up the coast and venue of one of the most ridiculously easy and pleasant pelagics imaginable this morning.





Thanks to an offer courtesy of our Filey Bay neighbours Keith and Claire, we were leaving the harbour shortly after 0730 this morning on the Eske Belle III with just eight other people (and two friendly dogs) aboard, and before we'd finished marveling at the plate glass sea and cloudless sky, two Minke Whales were wonderfully close and showy by the boat.

With slightly alarmed Guillemot

We enjoyed their company for at least the next hour or more, with the added bonuses of about 50 Manx Shearwaters, freshly-fledged Guillemot chicks, Common and Sandwich Terns and plenty more, back in time for breakfast and ice cream by mid-morning. Summer's here.

Harbour Porpoise

One of many Manxies close to the boat