![]() I arrived on the scene at the same time as a small boat containing father, son and daughter of the Smerdon family. I had brief views of a couple of porpoises before I saw the more active fins of some dolphins further out. It was a bit windier and was quite choppy as I ventured off the end of Berry Head. Two days later I returned for (hopefully) more dolphin action, with son Henry who positioned himself on the end of Brixham breakwater with his camera and huge lens on a tripod. Blooming heck! Berry Head and Brixham Breakwater Hezzer awaits the action My initial thought was jumping dolphin but a second later another spray of water was accompanied by the silvery flash and spiky fins of a Giant Tuna! Only about 100m off the headland (if that). ![]() En route back to Berry Head I passed Guillemots, Fulmars and Kittiwakes dotted about on the surface, and a few more porpoises quite close in off the headland.Īs I was having a brief word with a fisherman who was casting out from a tiny cove right at the tip of the headland I glanced out to sea and observed quite a splash. I turned back at Mansands where a Peregrine watched from above. Harbour Porpoise (rather more sedate than dolphins) I have seen them breach on occasion when they get really fired up about a shoal of fish, but this is rare (and even rarer on a flat calm day). In contrast to the habitually boisterous and splashy nature of the dolphins, porpoises roll at the surface with hardly any disturbance to the water as if they are attached to an underwater wheel. Beneath a couple of plunging Gannets rolled a handful of Harbour Porpoises. The scattered group disappeared off out to sea to the south and I continued offshore on a very calm sea to Sharkham Point. There were several juveniles and calves amongst the group and as usual these stuck to their mother’s side like glue. ![]() I had the best ringside seat you could wish for and watched the dolphins for almost an hour. I had to paddle just about flat out to keep up with the pace, and several times gave up as they disappeared off, but then was ‘pursuaded’ to have one more sprint when they slowed down a bit.Ībsolutely fantastic. They teamed up with another group of a dozen or so for a bit of a cavort about a mile off the headland. I followed the school of about twenty-five Common Dolphins as they cruised and splashed their way towards Berry head, with several coming over to bowride my rather weak pressure wave. So it was a bit of a surprise when, on the shortest day of the year, I saw a host of fins breaking the surface within five minutes of paddling out from the slipway at the root of Brixham breakwater. I have clocked up nearly 500 miles this year paddling more than a mile offshore in the hope of running into a school or two, and some of their pelagic partners. Common Dolphins are usually quite a challenge to watch from a kayak because they spend most of their time a long way offshore.
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