Yorkshire Whale Watching

Today I attended a ‘National Whale and Dolphin Watch’ event at Flamborough Cliffs Nature reserve, organised by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust on behalf of Sea Watch Foundation. Events taking place around Britain this week will produce a snapshot of the distribution of dolphins, whales and porpoises. We were stationed on the cliff top with a wide view over the sea. It was almost flat calm – ideal conditions for spotting cetaceans. Just below us, kittiwakes were still nesting on the cliff face, most with well grown chicks. Long lines of gannets passed by throughout the day, heading to their feeding areas. It’s been a good year for cetacean sightings along this stretch of coast, but today although we watched for nearly six hours, we recorded no dolphins, whales or porpoises.

Is it a whale? No, it’s a fishing boat!
 
There were Kittiwakes on the cliffs below
 
Lots of Gannets, but no cetaceans
 

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