My family had warned
me about the rain. The heavens had opened. I use the word ‘heaven’ as part of
the phrase, not as a reference to a real place; because we all know the Bible
is the best-selling fiction book of all time (emphasis on fiction). Anyway, the
day I arrived home, the weather more closely resembled that which is normally
found in Spain. Two days later, torrential downpours, and flood warnings all
over the UK. At least the rivers looked a lot healthier in terms of volume!
What better
opportunity to get out, wrap my camera in a bin bag, and get down by the river
(Neil Young). What I love about the rain, more than anything, is how miserable
it makes everyone. You have six months of drought, the
driest winter on record for however many years, and then a few weeks of hard rain
and people make it sound like they are getting into the RIB to go down the A1
to work. Plus it means there is far less people out on walks that I might bump
into and potentially have to interact with.
Here are some shots in
the rain, by the river…
The wonderful Mallard…
The odd looking Coot,
with its red eyes and white nob on its head…
And a sure sign that
spring has finally arrived (or supposed to have) the Swallow, awesome birds!
Not only did I see my
first Swallows of the year, but House Martins, Swifts and even a Cuckoo by the
lakeside in Henlow. Welcome back to the wonderful UK ! Here is a Sand Martin,
about to take a sip of the tasty River Ivel…
I had a go at trying to
make Pigeons look good. I tried for a few hours. Then went for a walk instead.
Not bad looking
animals really, just a bit strange.
Another good sign –
LOTS of Ducklings and Goslings !! Everyone loves a fluffy duckling!
And now, I am back on
the Cap Fin. Watching Whales, eating French, and trying to control my severe
armpit perspiration before the talks. Challenging.
Trip 11: Portsmouth – Bilbao & Bilbao –
Portsmouth
After watching
Cemetery Junction, I went straight to sleep, knowing I was going to be waking
in the most exciting part of the Bay of Biscay. Right above the continental
shelf edge, where the shallow coastal shelf of around 200 metres, drops off via
a series of underwater canyons, valleys and cliffs, all the way down to around
4000 metres; the mysterious and alien world of the abyssal plains, where unknown
species are discovered on a regular basis…
The morning started
extremely well, a large pod of Striped Dolphin in the distance, and the huge
blow of a Fin whale! During my talk, a pod of Common Dolphins were breaching in
the wake of the ship. But, by the time I got on deck after my salmon steak with
peas and lemon, the weather had deteriorated. The seas were calm, but the rain
was heavy. Real heavvvy mann.
Luckily, this doesn’t
put the dolphins off, as a pod of around 12 Common Dolphins joined the ship
briefly.
I was reading up on
these fellows, as they are a common species and there don’t seem to be any
mind-blowing facts about them, and it turns out, there are. They are known for
having the most teeth in any mammalian species. The record stands at over 250
teeth! Imagine having 250 teeth! And people are scared of sharks!?!?
Some breaks in the
cloud as the ship pulled into Bilbao…
A sunset as the ship
pulled out of Bilbao…
It takes 4 years
before the Gannet achieves its typical colouration, with juveniles having many
variations of black dispersed across their back, becoming whiter with age.
At one point five
Gannets were soaring alongside ship. The ship travels between 40 and 50 kmph,
yet these birds effortlessly run rings around the ship, over-taking, falling
back, and balancing in mid-air, gliding above our heads - real impressive
birds!
They even came so
close that I couldn’t fit them into the frame of the camera. You can even see
the greenish stripes on its feet!
A little Manx
Shearwater bypassed the ship as well…
Manx Shearwater –
famous for their insanely long migrations, and an inability to walk without
looking like a retard.
On that note, I will
let you get back to more productive ways of spending your time than looking at
photos of my ugly mug with sweet wrappers in my eyes. Hope all is well. Until
next time…
