Thursday 15 August 2013

Sea Monsters

I am now ready to share with you day two of my holiday in Cornwall and I have two say it was great. The place I am going to be talking about is one of my favorite beaches.... Porthcurno; it is quite a walk down to the beach itself, however there is splendid scenery and wildlife to watch on the way down, for example, the same pair of Buzzards were back nesting in a Pine Tree about 50 meters away from the path (they have been there for the last two years) and there are also plenty of butterflies. 

Walking to the beach doesn't deliver all the wildlife though; once the sand has reached about 20 meters out it suddenly drops rather steeply. Where the sea meets the sand, it continues to drop until the sea is rather deep which is where I I was able to enjoy lots of sea life. On this visit I was lucky enough to see one or maybe two Basking Sharks which were joined by the Gannets and Arctic Terns.


 We think there were two sharks due to distinguishing the fin shapes. These species of shark is quite common at Porthcurno however I have never seen one before so it was really exciting watching these gentle giants.


We think this one is the biggest however we do not know for sure. This species of shark is a filter feeder so it was feeding on plankton, however the reason Gannets and Terns were there was because a massive shoal of sea bass was being dragged in by the tide.


After that day I thought what a perfect first full day of my holiday.  It was amazing watching the adult and juvenile Gannets diving into the water again and again.


Mum let me use her pictures as I hadn't taken my camera down to the beach. I definitely won't leave it behind next time though


By the way I am really looking forward to bird fair tomorrow.

11 comments:

  1. Great photos and neat writing in the sand :)

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  2. A fantastic sight to see Findlay. Must have been very exciting.
    Hopefully see you all tomorrow at BirdFair.

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  3. I never put two and two together when you said sea monster in your last post go and have a look at this Findlay http://www.sharktrust.org/en/basking_shark_project you can enter details of your sighting and images you have, apparently some basking sharks are tagged.

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  4. Great stuff Findlay seeing the basking sharks, Sharon and I are at Birdfair on Saturday and Sunday, have a great time :-)

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  5. great shot of the sharks, i know that area well.


    peter

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  6. You must have been really excited to see those 'monsters' Findlay, and what an excellent start to your holiday?
    And well done to mum for the excellent pictures.

    Hopefully I'll catch up with you at Birdfair tomorrow...[;o)

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  7. Picture two looks like it could be a younger, or at least much smaller, one.
    In all my years staring at the sea I've never seen a basking shark yet! Lucky you...

    Cheers

    DaveyMan

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  8. Wow Findlay! I've never seen a Basking Shark. How wonderful for you.

    Your mum's giving you some competition with her photographic skills!

    Nice one with that last image!

    It was great to meet you and the family in person at Birdfair today.

    Best regards - Richard

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  9. Basking Sharks are fantastic to see Findlay.... your Mum captured some wonderful images...

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  10. Magical captures of the sharks! such good photographer.....

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