A pod of 12 plus White beaked Dolphins went slowly south past Whitburn Obs this morning. A perfect way to wipe away my world cup blues, every cloud has a silver lining. I missed the Minke Whale seen off Whitburn yesterday by Ian Mills but the return of White beaked Dolphins for the summer was a welcome sight. They were spread over a large area and my best estimate is 12-20. Some were fully breaching and showing the white bands on the flanks to differentiate them from the Bottlnose Dolphins that have been about for a while. Plenty of birds were passing as well including my first Sooty Shearwater of the year. Hear is what i saw in order of appearance
Friday 20th June 04.50-07.10 NW1-2 full cloud cover calm flat sea with moderate swell
Gannet 962n
Manx Shearwater 14n
Common Gull 2n 3s
Puffin 78n 2s
Sandwich Tern 4n 4s
Arctic Tern 4n
Black h Gull 9n 2s
Swift 2n
Common Scoter 63n 2s
Bonxie 1n
Common Tern 5n 1s
06.05-07.10, 12 plus White beaked Dolphins slowly south distantly
Grey Heron 1s
Sooty Shearwater 1n
Shag 1n
