Cardigan Bay Monitoring Project – The Blog

We made it! Today marks the 9th and final day of our 2021 National Whale and Dolphin Watch and what a week it has been. This weekend’s cake sale has raised £100, brought delicious treats to many people and given members of the public the chance to ask us about what Sea Watch Foundation does and which dolphins they can see in New Quay. Thank you to everyone who baked, helped with sales and to all the kind people who donated or bought cakes. 

Here at the Dolphin Hub we received many interested and interesting visitors including the Brock Family, who wanted to know about the differences between two of the Big Three of Cardigan Bay’s marine mammals – Bottlenose Dolphin vs Harbour Porpoise. They also took some great photos and selfies with Percy, our Harbour Porpoise model made from reclaimed beach litter.

The dolphins have been very busy today, with a mother and calf visiting New Quay harbour this morning and many sightings from Land Watches on the pier and from the Dolphin Spotting Boat Trip vessels. 

We were even treated to an aerial display late into the afternoon, when a lone dolphin breached completely out of the water and splashed back down several times in a row, giving us great views of the length of its white belly. 

Thank you to everyone who volunteered and participated in NWDW 2021!

Fran

Education and Outreach Assistant

Today started off overcast but the sun broke through to allow our Research Interns some warmth and vitamin D as they conducted Land Watches from New Quay pier. Others chatted to interested passers-by about dolphins, Sea Watch Foundation and the wonders of Cardigan Bay’s marine inhabitants while selling some delicious cakes. Dolphin-shaped home-baked dog biscuits were also on offer for people to treat their pups to something special as well. 

A bottlenose dolphin mother and calf entertained everyone on the pier for much of the afternoon, surfacing regularly between bouts of suspected fishing. A bright-eyed cormorant also spent some time fishing in the waters just below the pier, allowing us wonderful views of the starts of its dives. To catch up on sightings from all over the UK’s coastlines, please visit our Recent Sightings page, or click here to check out all the species of dolphin, porpoise and whale sighted during this year’s National Whale and Dolphin Watch. 

Earlier in this week’s #NWDW 2021 schedule, we hosted a ‘Daring Dolphin Rescue’ workshop to teach anyone interested what to do if you find a marine mammal stranded on land. For those who missed it from the inconveniently-timed downpour and those further afield, please check out our short film of the event, below.

Sea Watch Foundation’s #NWDW Daring Dolphin Rescue, featuring Research Intern Clare and Education Assistant Fran. Video credit: Jordan Williams. 

If you fancy something sweet in aid of dolphin conservation, please do visit our fund-raising bake sale in the Dolphin Hub this Sunday. All proceeds will be used to continue our research and conservation work, protecting dolphins, whales and porpoises in Cardigan Bay and across the UK. 

We also welcome everyone interested in a marine chat, wanting to know more about the individual dolphins we meet most regularly from the pier or out on the boats, or anyone with a creative spark who wishes to try their hands at colouring, painting, drawing, pebble-painting or crafting… If any of that applies to you, please visit the Dolphin Hub in Rock Street Car Park, New Quay, West Wales. Look out for Percy standing guard outside and you’ll know you have arrived!

Fran F.

Education and Outreach Assistant

Northerly winds, a very choppy ocean (sea state >4 on the Beaufort Scale), combined with medium swell meant that today’s usual New Quay land-watches and boat-watches could not go ahead. This is because these conditions make spotting dolphins very tricky, so our ability to detect these animals if they are nearby is much lower than usual, which throws off the reliability of our data. Therefore, on windy days, we enjoy the views and catch up on our office work!

Video of Bottlenose Dolphins from Sea Watch Dolphin Hub’s window. Video credit: Jordan Williams.

Here at the Dolphin Hub however, we received visits from some lovely groups of dolphin fans who came to tell us about their sightings throughout this week and for some shelter from the wind and rain. Luckily a few people braved the elements and managed to spot a mother and calf resting in the harbour, a known refuge spot for when the open waters are too rough for young calves. Other than this lucky sighting, we have unfortunately not seen any other dolphins in New Quay today. But fear not! On the 28th we had front row seats to some dolphin activity and managed to capture some footage from right here in our Education Hub. So we hope you enjoy this short video of a playful pod, showing off in-front of the Dolphin Spotting Boat. Look out for our next update and upcoming virtual presentations, meanwhile we’ll keep our fingers crossed for more cetacean action tomorrow.

If you are feeling the need for some sugar and spice to insulate yourself against the cold, please visit our fund-raising bake sale in the Dolphin Hub this weekend (we may even venture onto the pier if weather permits, but we will always be offering refuge and treats in the Dolphin Hub – Rock Street Car Park, New Quay, West Wales.

See you soon and enjoy the last weekend of 2021’s National Whale and Dolphin Watch Week!!!

Jordan W. & Fran F.

Education and Outreach Assistants

National Whale and Dolphin Watch got off to a great start here in New Quay, with a weekend of cakes and dolphin acrobatics from the pier. The new team of Sea Watch Research Interns had some exciting Land Watches and explained to many passers-by about the science and conservation we do here in Cardigan Bay. Meanwhile, in the Dolphin Hub the education assistants had some lovely visits from families, adults and friendly dogs who joined us for cakes, hand-baked dog biscuits, arts and crafts and some great discussions about the dolphins, whales and porpoises of Wales and beyond.

Ready? Set! Go on a Scavenger Hunt!!!

This weekend, I was also busy visiting many of the local shops to set up our Scavenger Hunt! We have hidden the dorsal fins of some of the individual bottlenose dolphins we see most often around New Quay in the windows of those businesses not serving food or drink for consuming on their premises (we did not want to inconvenience any of the café’s, restaurants or pubs or those waiting to be seated or served). For anyone who wants to join in, your task is to follow the treasure map available here or from the Dolphin Hub and record the names of all the dolphins whose dorsal fins are on display in the shops. Once you are finished, come to the dolphin hub with your completed map and a small donation and contact details, so you can be entered into our raffle. On Sunday 1^st August, 3 lucky winners will be able to choose from some fantastic prizes, and hopefully you and your families will have had the chance to explore New Quay and meet some of the lovely business men and women who call this little dolphin haven their home.  

Mini Marine Biologist

This fine Monday morning witnessed our first Online Event, live-streamed from the New Quay office. The audience joined me in exploring the marine inhabitants of Cardigan Bay, from jellyfish to sharks to cetaceans, we discussed some of the animals which live in the Bay, the protection they enjoy through the Special Areas of Conservation established in the early 2000s, and the reasons why this is such a popular location for Bottlenose Dolphin. We delved into the origins of dolphins, the differences between the toothed and baleen whales and the special 6^th sense these toothed whales use to find their way in an often dark or murky underwater environment as the top of the Cardigan Bay food-chain. Finally, I shared some top tips on spotting dolphins and whales and introduced the audience to Berry and Tigger, two of our Adoptable Dolphins.

A video of this event will be available on the Sea Watch Foundation Youtube Channel later this week, while an at-home activity pack and certificate of completion have been sent to our attendees. Anyone wishing to access the activity pack and certification should please email outreach@seawatchfoundation.org.uk for further details.

All in all, the week is off to a positive start with daily dolphin sightings and having raised over £130 in cake sales and generous donations which will be used to continue our work to conserve British cetaceans and educate people on how to responsibly co-exist with our neighbours under the waves.

Rockpool Safari

Tomorrow is our first Rock Pool Safari, so please come along to Dolau Beach in New Quay, West Wales for some low tide exploration of the pools. We will be on the beach between 3 and 5 pm, so look out for Percy, our life-sized Harbour Porpoise model who is made of upcycled marine rubbish. He will mark the meeting point for our salty adventures…

See you tomorrow!

To see what other events we have on offer in New Quay and online, please visit https://www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk/nwdw-2021-on-site-and-online-events/

Fran

Education & Outreach Assistant

You can breathe a sigh of relief…. the Sea Watch Foundation is happy to announce that they have a brand new supply of t-shirts in stock!

T-shirts come in two styles: Ladies or Unisex and there are a variety of sizes available. The tops come in Sea Watch’s famous colours of blue and white, and cost £14.95.

Support our work with this 100% cotton embroidered t-shirt – you can wear on your land-watches to identify you as part of our national team, or simply wear to spread awareness of what we do.

Isabel modelling her new t-shirt/ Ellie Richardson and Sea Watch Foundation

They will are sold and sent out of our office based in New Quay by 2nd class postage (Royal Mail).

Ellie wearing Ladies Smll (left) and Izzy wearing Unisex Med/ Sea Watch Foundation

Unisex: Choose from S (36-38″ chest), M (38-40″ chest), L (41-42″ chest), XL (43-44″ chest), XXL (45-47″ chest).

Ladies: Choose from S (8-10), M (10-12), L (12-14).

All tops come with “volunteer” embroidered on the lower back (as can be seen below).

Ellie wearing Ladies Smll (left) and Izzy wearing Unisex Med/ Sea Watch Foundation

You can purchase these by emailing our Education Assistant Ellie at outreach@seawatchfoundation.org.uk or visiting our online shop.

Be sure to get yours now while stocks last!

Every year, we recruit seven Research Interns (RI) for every research period (4 x 7 week blocks) as well as one Education and Outreach Assistant (EA), and one Research Assistant (RA). Applications close in January for RI and RA positions, and in February for EA.

Please read individual role descriptions carefully before applying as they differ significantly from each other, each requiring varying lengths of commitment as well as different levels of experience in areas such as research, team management and public awareness work. All roles are unpaid, however, accommodation is provided for the Research Assistant free of charge:

http://www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk/internships/ 

From left to right: Bottlenose dolphin (BND), County Mayo, Ireland; minke whale (MW), Isle of Eigg, Inner Hebrides; harbour porpoise (HP), Anglesey, North Wales; white-beaked dolphins (WBD), Aberdeen, Scotland; humpback whale (HW), Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides. Photo credits: (BND) Pia Anderwald/ SWF, (MW) P.G.H. Evans/SWF, (HP) P.G.H. Evans/SWF, (WBD) Caroline Weir, (HW) P.G.H. Evans/SWF.