Lunch in the Celtic Sea, for Razorbills, Puffins and Scientists!

The current stormy weather within the Celtic Sea, along with a scientific crew change, have kept the Prince Madog moored up in Milford Haven for the last few days. A few transects were performed on the one day that was survey-able, but even this proved challenging – the chef deserves great credit for serving up a tasty soup for lunch! This provided some interesting observations however; Atlantic puffins and common guillemots dominated the western transect in deeper and slower waters, with large numbers of Razorbills being found in the eastern transect characterised by shallower and faster waters. These species show fundamental differences in their foraging behaviours, targeting different prey and in different parts of the water column. The subsequent inspection of data collected by the fish-finder will hopefully shed light on these results. Common dolphins were also abundant once again – with most sightings occurring to the west. With the new scientific crew on-board, the fridges and freezers restocked, and some restlessness of being stuck onshore not doing much, the vessel is now raring to go again. The Prince Madog will head south tomorrow morning (weather permitting) aiming for the northern Cornish and Devon coastlines to sample the seabed, with transects planned for near Lundy Island and Lands’ End.

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