Saturday brought along National Whale and Dolphin Week, an opportunity for the whole of UK and Ireland to join forces in reporting cetacean sightings in our coastal waters. It’s been a busy and exciting week for the whole of the UK’s dedicated whale and dolphin spotters including our own Sea Watch Foundation interns here in New Quay. Reports of porpoises and minke whales flew in from 6.30am on the first day, and our sightings page has been filled with over 200 additions. Killer whales were spotted on Saturday and Sunday around the Shetlands, before the arrival of 500 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. Since then, we’ve had an influx of UK and Ireland sightings from bottlenose dolphins to minkes to magnificent sei whales.
The Cardigan Bay Monitoring project team have been battling the wind and spreading the Sea Watch word on New Quay pier this week, armed with sea life props and face paints. Saturday gave us the chance to explain to the public what Sea Watch does and talk unrestrictedly about our favourite topic: dolphins! With the help of our face paint skills we rounded up a group of eager sand sculptors for a sand castle building competition in the afternoon. Ceredigion MP Mark Williams paid us a visit to judge the sand castle competition (with great difficulty!) choosing a brilliant sand aeroplane as winner. As the day wound down, Danielle lead a guided walk up to Bird Rock, joined by Mark Williams, his family and interested public.
The weather may have taken a turn for the worst, but storms and gales haven’t worn out the Cardigan Bay team. We’ll be on the pier collecting data, chatting to the public and painting faces all week, with more exciting activities to come!
