Up Close and Personal

BogMonster · 07 January 2007, 20:06

Out in the RIB today and got a few up close shots of the local wildlife etc.

Big visitor in today, cruise ship "The World" seriously expensive holidays for the seriously well off, I understand it doesn't have cabins but apartments which you rent for a year or something, and get on and off whenever you like...

Then out around Kidney Island about 5 miles from the harbour, a big commotion on the beach and another one in the water, loads and loads of seals of all sizes, quite inquisitive, when I stopped the engine they came to within about six feet of the boat for a look but then the big fellas started making disgruntled noises so we retreated a little! Also the fact that they were right in the kelp didn't help, as kelp and outboards are not a happy mixture.

BogMonster · 07 January 2007, 20:10

Then a dark shape flashed under the boat. Shark? No, just Flipper and family

fantastic company as always, playing round the boat, almost close enough to touch ... but the best bit came when we set off again motoring slowly on the aux engine, they went mad and a couple of them were jumping right out of the water doing a wiggle in mid air and then in again, this went on for a couple of minutes but I'd put the camera away so I missed any shots of it, I have NEVER seen wild dolphins behave like this here, it was like trained dolphins in a show but these guys are completely wild of course. Fantastic

On the way home we had a little race with a jet ski and won, he had to go and offload his passenger before he could beat me and then I reckon there was only about a knot in it

Poly · 07 January 2007, 20:15

Sounds like an excellent day out - and hopefully making up for the recent tube issues.

BogMonster · 07 January 2007, 20:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

Sounds like an excellent day out - and hopefully making up for the recent tube issues.

Tube issues are still ongoing but yes it does help reinforce the resolve to get the damn thing fixed once and for all, if you have a good day out without any new problems appearing

Stoo · 07 January 2007, 21:29

Stephen, when I see your pictures, it strengthens my resolve to relocate someplace nearer to "real" water! As much as I love our crystal clear, fresh water, we get excited if we see a fish!

It's nice to hear that your repairs are holding up too!

codprawn · 08 January 2007, 15:08

That ship came to Swansea a few years ago - went out to have a look in a big yellow RIB.

Great shots of the dolphins. I have yet to see one in British waters but last year a pod of 2,000 was spotted off west wales - also 6 fin wales near swansea so just got to be lucky.

You say about them performing for you the funniest thing I ever saw was Clive James on a walking safari. They sneaked up on a pride of lions but they were lying in the shade and you could hardly see them. Along came a few of the tourist mini buses and the lions all got up and came into the open and strutted their stuff for the cameras. The main male was really posing - it was incredible to watch. As soon as the buses had gone they went back under the trees and fell asleep!!!

BogMonster · 08 January 2007, 15:18

We get dolphins regularly round here - though there are more in summer than in winter. I saw 3 different pods here yesterday, from about 6 to about a dozen in each. They are fantastic company especially if it is a nice warm sunny day and flat calm, and you can lean over the edge of the boat watching them whizz around underneath, up around Kidney Is there is only about 12 feet of water and a sandy bottom so on a sunny day (unlike yesterday...) it is almost like watching them in an aquarium. There were loads of penguins around too but they are a bit scary and won't come close to the boat, they just dive and then zip through the water just popping up for a quick breath now and again - almost impossible to photograph with a still camera. A lot of these things are experiences to be enjoyed on the day and almost impossible to record!

February is apparently whale season so I will be going whale hunting (no not like that!) then

I was looking at the Wiki entry on "The World" - if you've got a spare $3.6m you can buy an apartment on it. Not including "maintenance fees"

J S · 08 January 2007, 17:52

Here is some of my pictures of dolphins taken last summner. There was a pod of about 12 joined us for about an hour. I kept putting the engine into neutral and swithcing is off because i didn't wan't to scare or allow the prop to touch them but them seemed to like just swimming under the boat when going about 10 knots.

James

jyasaki · 08 January 2007, 18:18

No pics, but early last summer I ran into a pod of Dall's Porpoises (or rather, they ran into me.) I was out looking for a couple of humpbacks that were rumored to be hanging out in the area (never found them, though they apparently were still there), and I saw a bunch of fins approaching. As they got closer, I could see they were jet black. "Aha", I thought. "Orcas!" Cool, as I had yet to see them in the wild (Sea World doesn't really count, in my book.) Suspicion confirmed as they got closer, and a distinct black and white color pattern was visible. When they got nearer, I could see they were smaller, and more streamlined than orcas are.

As our paths intersected, they hung a hard left, merging with my path. I cut the throttle, and they swam out in front, circled, and milled around a bit. Some started to swim off, so I hit the throttle again, getting up on plane (about 15 to 17 mph, I think.) The ones that were leaving immediately circled back, and the whole pod of a dozen or so played in the pressure wave. They had a weird style of swimming and breathing that kicked up a ton of spray, making them almost unviewable.

I cut the throttle again, and they started to drift off again; Hit the throttle and they were right back under the bow. I was surprised at their speed; I could do about 25mph and they were right there. Eventually, they took off back the way they had come from, so I turned and headed back up the coast. I had a big grin all the way back. Wasn't til later that I got an ID on them.

Unfortunately, I was having such a good time with them that I never even thought about pulling out my camera (which would have taken a while since I would have had to remove the strobe arms from the housing - it was set up for underwater work.)

No whales that day, though, which was kind of disappointing.

jky

Erin · 30 January 2007, 21:46

Sadly i missed the oportunity when that vast cruise ship visited my waters a couple of years ago. I've always wanted to say 'I've been round the world in my rib'

BogMonster · 31 January 2007, 09:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erin

Sadly i missed the oportunity when that vast cruise ship visited my waters a couple of years ago. I've always wanted to say 'I've been round the world in my rib'

Somebody did that while it was here, there was an article in the local paper titled "XYZ sets out to kayak around the World" thought it was brilliant

Kernow Buoy · 31 January 2007, 14:28

Our dolphins have funny shaped fins and aren't friendly!

http://rib.net/forum/attachment.php?...9&d=1149512878

TQBoater · 31 January 2007, 21:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by BogMonster

Somebody did that while it was here, there was an article in the local paper titled "XYZ sets out to kayak around the World" thought it was brilliant

The World at my feet