Spotted off the Essex Coastline!
Just a few weeks ago was yet another fine example of our wonderful Essex Coast blooming with nature. Whilst out on a fishing trip with my husband for the day, as we moved to another hot spot fishing mark my husband had lined up for us with the tide, my husband spotted a pod of ‘something’ off the port side of our catamaran heading straight for us. He knew immediately they were too big to be porpoises. A few moments later there was a whole pod of between 8-12 dolphins hanging around resting off our bow, breaching every few minutes. Mostly adults approximately 10-12ft long but we spotted a couple of calves amongst them too around 4ft long. We stopped motoring to watch in awe as these beautiful creatures surfaced right in front of us. Completely dismayed at what we were seeing, dolphins on the Essex coastline, that can’t be right can it? With just my iPhone to hand I had to try and capture what we were seeing before our eyes as no one would believe us if we told them when we got home. With jet black backs and dorsals which were tall, curved and sickle shaped, and white and pale horizontal stripes down their bodies with short, rounded and blunt beaks we knew these were not any dolphin we had seen before.
After discussions with the BDMLR, several university professors and the SeaWatch team, these creatures were confirmed to be a very rare sighting indeed and were identified as White-beaked dolphins. The SeaWatch Team said this is the first white-beaked dolphin sighting in Essex which has been submitted to them in the past 21 years! What an amazing sighting for us and an even more incredible capture for history through the wonders of iPhone technology!
I doubt we’ll see anything quite as rare as this over the bank holiday amongst the Mersea Creeks but you never know! I do have some availability remaining for my trips if you’d like to book something, please call 07791859624.
Trip options currently available based on the government guidelines are as follows:
• 20-minute trip round Packing Shed Island - £20 for up to 6 people
• 1-hour Creeks Excursion - £50 for up to 6 people
• 2-hour Wildlife Trip - £100 for up to 6 people
• 2-hour picnic trip - £100 for up to 6 people (picnic not included)
• 3-hour return trip to Bradwell or Tollesbury for lunch - £150 for up to 6 people (lunch not included)
• 4.5-hour return trip to Bradwell to walk to the Chapel - £150 for up to 6 people
