700+ whales and dolphins seen from Scilly ferry

Common dolphins taken from the Scillonian III, photo by Paul Semmens

November 2009. Marine life surveys conducted onboard Scillonian III this season by the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust have turned up some fantastic results, confirming that this route between Penzance and St Mary's is an excellent platform for wildlife watching.

The surveys, led by Paul Semmens, were have been conducted weekly on Wednesdays between April and the end of October. On the way out to the islands Paul recorded casual sightings while talking to passengers about marine conservation and wildlife spotting. On the way back from Scilly Paul joined the crew up on the bridge and kept a careful watch as he did a scientific transect survey.

The sightings, combined with observations given to the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust by the crew, gave a total of 786 sightings of at least 7 different marine animals.

The route passes along the coast of Cornwall for 12 miles before heading across the open sea and takes approximately 2.5 hours. There are apparent hotspots of marine life activity along the way. Mount's Bay for example has a small pod of bottlenose dolphins that regularly appear beside the ship. The Runnelstone near Land's End is a hotspot for basking sharks, and harbour porpoises are most often spotted around the islands.

The findings, which are part of the Isles of Scilly Marine Biodiversity Project are to be shared with MarineLife, an organisation which runs this kind of ferry based survey on a number of routes in Europe. The combined data will help to build up a picture of cetacean (whale and dolphin) movements and distribution across the North East Atlantic through the Atlantic Research Coalition (ARC).

Jeff Marston, Chief Executive of Isles of Scilly Steamship Company said: "We are pleased to have been able to support the marine surveys on board Scillonian III. It is great to see that so much wildlife has been sighted between the mainland and Isles of Scilly. We are committed to supporting the survey work in the future and hope that the results will enable Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust to monitor wildlife off our shores."

Although the Scillonian has now stopped running until April, Paul will continue the survey work on the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company's freight ship, the Gry Maritha. The hope is that the surveys will record the fin whales which are sometimes seen in this area during winter months.