Sunfish!

Thursday 15th September we began our second line transect survey of the last period. The Dunbar Castle II left New Quay harbour bright and early at 8.30 a.m. On our way to the first transect point, a sunfish was spotted floating just beneath the surface, its fin protruding from the waves.

Sunfish (Mola mola) are found in both tropical and temperate waters and are usually seen just below the water's surface basking in the sun. They can reach up to approximately 4 meters vertically and 3 meters across, and are the heaviest of all the bony fish.

Once on the transect line, the independent observers took their places in addition to the primary observers and the search began.

Three pairs of harbour porpoises were sighted during the morning and 9 grey seals throughout the day, inquisitively watching us pass them by.

Bottlenose dolphins however were not observed until much later in the afternoon, with the first encounter taking place at 3.38 p.m. Three adults, three juveniles and one calf were recorded, and photos were taken for ID purposes. It wasn't until we started to return home after completing the transect survey that we had our second encounter of three adult bottlenose dolphins at 6.34 p.m., within sight of the New Quay harbour.