Spain Mini Cruise Again

Last weekend I went on the P&O Ferries mini cruise to Spain again. The route is being withdrawn in September so it was pretty much my last chance to go. :(

I saw lots a new species this time including sperm whales, fin whales, pilot whales, minke whales, a basking shark and tuna leaping right out of the water. The water was so calm when we passed the sperm whales that we could even make out some of the whales body below the water with the naked eye. It was really amazing to see something huge and normally confined to deep, offshore areas. We also saw a Cuvier's Beaked Whale leap right out of the water several times. The Bay of Biscay is probably the only place in the world that you can see this so we were really lucky.

The second night on the boat, a large thunder storm surrounded us. It was quite scary, but also exhilarating.



This time we decided to go on the Bilbao City tour for our time in Spain.



The Guggenheim museum was quite impressive.



But I also enjoy looking at old fashioned Spanish buildings.


And the best part is I wasn't sick once! (Although I did come close a few times. )


Farewell Pride of Bilbao, you will be missed.

Grey Whale in Mediterranean

For the first time in centuries a grey whale has been sighted in the Atlantic ocean! The species was once numerous in the Northern Atlantic, as evidenced by fossil records, but is belived to have died out in the 17th or 18th centuries, possibly due to intense whaling. Nowadays, the only viable population of grey whales is that of the north-eastern pacific. The whale may have come into the Atlantic via the North West Passage, which due to global warming is now ice free for part of the year.

I found this news particularly amazing as I've been complaining about the video game Endless Ocean 2's portrayal of grey whales off the shore of Egypt ever since I got the game. While I considered to be a major oversight by the creators, perhaps they knew something no one else did? I also recall reading an article about a strange proposal to reintroduce grey whales to the Atlantic by airlifting specimens from the California population. At the time the idea was widely dismissed but perhaps it has started to happen by itself. We might see more grey whales in the Atlantic soon and although I doubt they'll repopulate English channel, one can always wonder.

More info

Whale Watching and Spain

I haven't talked about this on here before, but I'm a huge fan of whales and whale watching. I've been in love with these amazing creatures ever since I was very young. My absolute favourite are blue whales. I also like dolphins and other large marine creatures. I've been whale watching a number of times and it really is a fantastic experience. Last week I went on a 3 day "Mini Cruise" (more like long ferry trip) from Portsmouth to Bilbao across the Bay of Biscay which is one of the best places to see whales in the world. It's normally famous for large numbers of gray whales but mysteriously this year sighting have been way below average. We still saw plenty of wildlife though including huge numbers of common dolphins on the 2nd day and more dolphins and rare beaked whales on the 3rd. My attempts to photograph the dolphins were largely unsuccessful although the photo below just about shows a couple of dolphins just poking up through the waves.

We also had a 4 hour excursion in Spain to the scenic fishing town of Castro-Urdiales.

And for your information here is a list of all the cetacean species that I've had the pleasure to see.

Hannah's Cetacean Checklist

Definite

Humpback Whale

Bottlenose Dolphin

Striped Dolphin

Short-beaked Common Dolphin

Pacific White-sided Dolphin

Northern Right Whale Dolphin

Risso's Dolphin

Harbour Porpoise

Dall's Porpoise

Cuvier's Beaked Whale (although there’s a chance it was a Northern Bottlenose Whale)

Possible

Minke Whale – Sighting was a long time ago so I’m not sure

Fin Whale – Only saw the blow and I’m not sure that counts

Captivity – Not condoning or condemning the keeping of cetaceans in captivity just listing what I happen to have seen

Commerson's Dolphin

False Killer Whale

Orca

Beluga

Amazon River Dolphin