Seal Swim. Part 2. Out to Sea.
Jun. 22nd, 2018 12:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lucifersprizeThis is photo heavy but there are no pictures of people since there are consent issues involved in that. Sometimes it meant aiming my camera at odd angles. My camera isn't waterproof so there are no in-water pictures, but there was a photographer on the boat who will forward some pictures of us in that sea when they have ensured that they are only of people who consented to share their photographs.
After a dreary, rainy day, as we set off for the evening, the sun came out. We took it as a good sign. My wet suit seemed easier to put on as we chugged across an expanse of water and then I sat back to enjoy the view - and what a view!
Cormorant on rocks at the edge of the Farne Islands
There were so many bird colonies, our boat took the route through the middle to get a close look, the smell was rather - uh - intense!
Guillemots forming a pack around chicks to hide them from the Kittiwakes.
Puffins!
All around us was simply alive and noisy
Hang on, what are these squishy rocks?
This is a few hundred metres from where we anchored. We stepped off the boat and swam over to just beyond these guys and waited for them to get curious. The sea was wonderfully cold and perfect - not too rough but in constant motion with us. If we put our head under the water it was clear with a lawn of thick silver-green weed swishing gently under us. I panicked a few times, breathed again and concentrated on the stunning scenery, the sensation of the water, the fact that I was HERE, the seals were swimming within yards of us and it was amazing. The time seemed to pass in a blink before we had to swim back to the boat and we all used the 'James Bond'
hydraulic diver's lift to get back on.
Getting the wet suit back off required help and a hefty pull and putting clothes on was not easy while retaining modesty on a full boat. Then I poured hot coffee and when I looked back up I was expecting the trip to be almost over. The boat's captain had no such intentions and the low sun was giving the sky a wonderful changing hue.
We did a complete loop of St Cuthbert's Island.
Extreme zoom, because chicks.
Bamburgh Castle was an impressive silhouette from the sea.
And just as we seemed to be heading for harbour, the Captain swung the boat around with a cry of "I think I can see something over there and we sped in a different direction.
Indeed he did see something:-
A pod of about 40 dolphins with young. Unfortunately my reaction times, swellng waves, and shaky hands mean the pics do not do them justice. They were incredible. Beautiful, playful, innocent and each slightly different even within their family units and they clearly wanted to play with us. They amused themselves matching the boat's varying speeds, breaching right beside the boat and blowing noisily. Their intelligence was so very obvious. They followed us in circles and when, after an hour we finally moved on, the captain had radioed the tour behind us so they could continue playing with a boat of tourists.
We were an hour and a half late coming into harbour and it barely felt like time had passed. I've never seen so many huge, contented smiles.
Harbour light and depth measure
Seahouses in the late evening sun.
Safe berth by the old warehouses. No the donut stand wasn't open. *huff*
All that was left to do was eat our fish and chips in the local chippie.
So there it is. Has the experience cured me? Of course not. Has it left a lasting positive impression? I think so. I shall continue to sea swim locally after this and there are moves to form a local swim group. Most of all it has reminded me how vast and precious our planet around us is, how small we are in it, and that, however bad I feel, I have to fight for the survival of our environment, whether it be picking plastic from the beach or signing petitions.
After a dreary, rainy day, as we set off for the evening, the sun came out. We took it as a good sign. My wet suit seemed easier to put on as we chugged across an expanse of water and then I sat back to enjoy the view - and what a view!
Cormorant on rocks at the edge of the Farne Islands
There were so many bird colonies, our boat took the route through the middle to get a close look, the smell was rather - uh - intense!
Guillemots forming a pack around chicks to hide them from the Kittiwakes.
Puffins!
All around us was simply alive and noisy
Hang on, what are these squishy rocks?
This is a few hundred metres from where we anchored. We stepped off the boat and swam over to just beyond these guys and waited for them to get curious. The sea was wonderfully cold and perfect - not too rough but in constant motion with us. If we put our head under the water it was clear with a lawn of thick silver-green weed swishing gently under us. I panicked a few times, breathed again and concentrated on the stunning scenery, the sensation of the water, the fact that I was HERE, the seals were swimming within yards of us and it was amazing. The time seemed to pass in a blink before we had to swim back to the boat and we all used the 'James Bond'
hydraulic diver's lift to get back on.
Getting the wet suit back off required help and a hefty pull and putting clothes on was not easy while retaining modesty on a full boat. Then I poured hot coffee and when I looked back up I was expecting the trip to be almost over. The boat's captain had no such intentions and the low sun was giving the sky a wonderful changing hue.
We did a complete loop of St Cuthbert's Island.
Extreme zoom, because chicks.
Bamburgh Castle was an impressive silhouette from the sea.
And just as we seemed to be heading for harbour, the Captain swung the boat around with a cry of "I think I can see something over there and we sped in a different direction.
Indeed he did see something:-
A pod of about 40 dolphins with young. Unfortunately my reaction times, swellng waves, and shaky hands mean the pics do not do them justice. They were incredible. Beautiful, playful, innocent and each slightly different even within their family units and they clearly wanted to play with us. They amused themselves matching the boat's varying speeds, breaching right beside the boat and blowing noisily. Their intelligence was so very obvious. They followed us in circles and when, after an hour we finally moved on, the captain had radioed the tour behind us so they could continue playing with a boat of tourists.
We were an hour and a half late coming into harbour and it barely felt like time had passed. I've never seen so many huge, contented smiles.
Harbour light and depth measure
Seahouses in the late evening sun.
Safe berth by the old warehouses. No the donut stand wasn't open. *huff*
All that was left to do was eat our fish and chips in the local chippie.
So there it is. Has the experience cured me? Of course not. Has it left a lasting positive impression? I think so. I shall continue to sea swim locally after this and there are moves to form a local swim group. Most of all it has reminded me how vast and precious our planet around us is, how small we are in it, and that, however bad I feel, I have to fight for the survival of our environment, whether it be picking plastic from the beach or signing petitions.
