Pelagic Sea Trip With AK Wildlife Cruises

DSC_4848

On a recent trip down to Falmouth to attend my youngest daughter’s graduation (Press and Editorial Photography)  I was able to grab some time to get out with AK Wildlife Cruises on one of their day long pelagic sea trips.

We left Falmouth at 10.00am returning seven hours later at 5.00pm.

DSC_4856

DSC_4733

DSC_5002

A Quality Experience

It was a really good day and the crew could not have been more accommodating and helpful. By their own admissions we didn’t hit a brilliant day wildlife wise but still managed some decent sightings but more than that the whole experience was first rate. I had hoped to get some shots of stormies and perhaps a sooty shearwater and whilst we managed to see a couple of the sooty’s and a balaeric (not photographable) the petrols were not coming down to the ‘chum’ that was being put out as we trailed the same route back and forth.

DSC_4552

DSC_4683
Kittiwakes with sand eel
DSC_4724
Rounding the Lizard

Some good stuff!

The skipper, Keith, knew the waters like the back of hand and was desperately wanting for us to see all that was possible. It’s part of the deal though on such trips that nothing is guaranteed! It sounds like it was all bad but it wasn’t at all and I managed some good shots of Mediterranean gulls, kittiwakes, a brief encounter we had with a porpoise, some very close encounters with gannets and a couple of peregrines along with plenty of manxies. The coastal scenery was spectacular and I’ve never been out past the Lizard before. Not bad!

DSC_4547

DSC_4653

DSC_4940

We came back into Falmouth from the north east, having first traveled out towards the Lizard peninsula initially hugging the coast before heading out to the pelagic waters. On this route back we once again hugged the coast an passed some Atlantic grey seals, more Med gulls and groups of shags.

DSC_4614
Winter Mediterranean Gull

DSC_4595

DSC_4609

I’ll be back!

I think the measure of any trip like this is wether you feel the want to return. It’s a definite for me, as I said previously it was a quality experience throughout. AK take a maximum of eight giving plenty of room and you’re made to feel very welcome and well looked after throughout the trip. Hopefully we may encounter a bit more next time but who knows, it’s why the expectation is so much part of any  such experience and sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t. We were somewhere in between!

DSC_4809

IMG_0974-2
On this occasion we had no luck with the ‘chum’
DSC_5070
Free spirit – AK wildlife’s boat mooring up at Falmouth

 

 

 

Filed under: Articles, Birds Eloquent ProjectTagged with: , ,

No comment yet, add your voice below!


Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment *
Name *
Email *
Website

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.