A Whale Watching Adventure in the Bay of Biscay
Despite living by the sea for the majority of my life, I’m a bit of a ‘land lubber’ when it comes to wildlife watching. Lately I’ve tried to rectify this by supplementing my annual pelagic out of Bridlington with some specialised cetacean watching trips.
Some of these trips have been pretty successful providing a number of memorable experiences. However, as my enthusiasm has increased, I find myself reading more and more about the various whale and dolphin hotspots around the world.
One such hotspot is the Bay of Biscay, and for many years people have been enjoying fruitful cetacean and seabird spotting from a passenger ferry called The Pride of Bilbao.
It turns out the ferry is to be taken out of service but not before my birding pal John Sadler suggested we book a trip on board to celebrate his birthday.
We decided to use The Company of Whales to organise our venture, although it is possible to go it alone as many others have. Not only did we benefit from expert cetacean spotting guides, we also had exclusive access to the top deck giving us unrivalled viewing opportunities. I wouldn’t hesitate to use The Company of Whales again in the future.
Day 1 (September 10) The Journey Begins
After a long but uneventful journey, Sarah and I met with John and Angie at the Portsmouth Ferry Terminal. Our guides were waiting for us with our tickets and before long we were exploring our cosy cabins.
The ship finally left port under darkness as we sank a couple of beers in the bar.
Day 2 (September 11) Cetacean City
As we were still in unproductive, shallow waters, the day started with a slide show in the ship’s cinema. Although I was itching to start whale watching, the talk was extremely interesting and detailed what we might encounter over the next few days.
An hour or so later we assembled on ‘Monkey Island’ eagerly awaiting our first wildlife sighting. At this point we were south of the Brittany peninsula and over the continental shelf. Bird sightings provided most of the interest.
A group of European Storm Petrels in front of the boat were a welcomed site, as were a couple of Great Skuas and a Manx Shearwater. Further out several rarer shearwaters were being called by a group of birders on the deck below. Unfortunately I wasn't near my scope and failed to get onto any of them.
Our first cetaceans came in the form of several Harbour Porpoises which were seen well in the calm waters. Later on a decent sized pod of Common Bottle-nosed Dolphins swam passed the ship closely followed by a showy Sunfish.
Migrant passerines soon put in an appearance with a flyover ‘alba’ wagtail. This bird was accompanied by a more unusual Lapland Bunting. Northern Wheatear also put on a show, using the ship to recoup some valuable energy.
Later in the afternoon a small pod of Short-beaked Common Dolphin was located off the bow of the boat, and before long we were surrounded by a huge group containing hundreds of individuals. With patience it was possible to get extremely good views of my favourite dolphin as the photos below illustrate.
The pod accompanied us for nearly an hour, often riding the bow wave created by the ship.
Sooty Shearwaters soon followed, along with some Common Terns and a suburb Sabine’s Gull. A Turnstone was an unexpected surprise as it flew directly over our heads, while a group of tuna splashed about in front of the ship.
By early evening we had reached the drop off zone of the continental shelf and the first rorqual blows were soon spotted. Fin Whales were the most likely candidates and before long we had seen the actual whales diving to expose their rear body and dorsal fin. In all I saw two definite Fin Whales and a number of probable Fin Whale blows.
As the sun began to set, more rorqual blows were spotted on the horizon. As a grand finale to the day a pod of Striped Dolphins put in an appearance, although they remained distant and difficult to view well.
After a successful day we retired below deck for dinner and a couple of well earned drinks.
Day 3 (September 12) A Taste of Spain
After a very early breakfast we disembarked the Pride of Bilbao to spend the morning in Spain. The port is actually situated in the town of Santurtzi – not neighbouring Bilbao, but our destination was the lush foothills above the heavily urbanised coast.
Due to time limitations our walk was rather brisk, although between our group we managed to record an impressive list of Spanish wildlife.
Cetti’s Warblers serenaded us with song as soon as we left the town but typically remained out of site for the duration of the walk. More easily seen were Willow Warblers, Great Tits, Fan-tailed Warblers and several Red-backed Shrikes.
Further up the hill we came across some Stonechats, Pied Flycatchers and a pair of Common Redstarts, while others in the group scored Hobby, Peregrine and a Wryneck. Some distant Griffon Vultures added interest at the top of the hill, although I was distracted by some newly constructed conservation ponds which contained unidentified tadpoles.
By this time the temperature had increased enough to potentially bring out some reptiles. On the walk back down the hill Sarah and I finally found a single Iberian Wall Lizard – our only saurian of the holiday!
We sheltered from a brief rain storm in the local shops before boarding our ship around midday. Moments later we were back on ‘Monkey Island’ looking out for cetaceans.
The deep waters of the southern bay offer some very interesting whale species, including the very elusive beaked whales. In fact the Bay of Biscay is probably the only place in the world where the cetacean connoisseur has a realistic chance of encountering one of these deep diving, strictly oceanic animals.
Naturally a beaked whale was high on my wish list, although even in Biscay sightings are far from guaranteed.
A Sooty Shearwater started off events, followed by a small pod of Short-beaked Common Dolphins.
The sea was noticeably rougher than the day before, with white caps making it difficult to spot splashes in the water.
A number of large rorqual (probable Fin Whale) blows were noted in the distance, although the actual whales were hidden by the waves. Dunlin, Yellow Wagtail and various terns added avian interest, as did the occasional Great Skua.
Midway through the afternoon I was alerted by the call of ‘beaked whales off the bow!!’ From our high position on ‘Monkey Island’ we were able to enjoy stunning views of three Cuvier’s Beaked Whales as they swam right past the ship.
Amazingly, a fourth individual was seen even closer minutes later. This was photographed by Glenn Overington, one of the Company of Whales guides. The picture of the whale is included below with his permission.
We were barely over the excitement of our whale sightings when two small shearwaters were spotted just off the bow of the ship. As they flew out of sight, one backtracked in front of us confirming what we had initially suspected – Little Shearwater! Now more correctly known as Macaronesian Shearwater, these birds are rarely seen north of their breeding grounds.
As another fruitful day drew to an end, some larger whale blows were seen in the distance. Due to their shape and angle, it was presumed they belonged to a small group of Sperm Whales. Unfortunately we never saw the actual animals.
Our last evening was spent in the restaurant where we enjoyed a celebratory meal.
Day 4 (September 13) Back in the Shallows
Although we were back in the relatively unproductive waters of the English Channel, the calm sea conditions meant we still had a chance of seeing some of the smaller cetaceans such as Harbour Porpoise and Minke Whale.
John and I were on deck early. Unfortunately our enthusiasm produced nothing but Northern Gannets and the occasional Great Skua, although it turns out a Minke Whale had been recorded very early doors.
We did get crippling views of two Harbour Porpoise, along with various terns, a European Shag, Common Guillemot and a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
Migrants provided a little more variety with Yellow Wagtail, Barn Swallow and a Willow Warbler. A Blackcap even called in long enough for Sarah to take a photo.
Before long we were back in British waters where all but the most common birds managed to disappear. Predictably the rain started as we passed the Isle of Wight and remained with us for the remainder of our journey. As we entered Portsmouth we took in the various landmarks such as the HMS Victory before disembarking our ship one last time.
All too quickly our fabulous trip had come to an end.
At the time of writing the Pride of Bilbao is in the last few days of service. A similar ferry does run from Plymouth to Santander and should in theory provide rival cetacean viewing opportunities. Hopefully it won’t be long before I can confirm this in person!