Strumble diary from Rhi Till

 Common Dolphin - Fishguard Bay

Rhi Till	22:40 (19 minutes ago)
to me

Hi Cliff

So lovely to see you and catch up today.

Strumble delivered once again,with bells and whistles. Upon arrival, saw a fair few porps, beyond buoy to right of look out. Great stuff!

However, as I scanned left towards the lighthouse ,boy did I get treated to a display. I initially thought the surfers were Bottles, but realised they were common dolphins. They were leaping and frolicking  in direct line of lighthouse. I counted upwards of 80 to 100 of them for a good half hour. They moved farther away and beyond my range. I couldn't pull them in enough for a good picture. Am attaching the best  of many attempts of my visit there! No prizes for my efforts ,but proof all the same

What a fabulous way to spend the afternoon.

Take care

Rhi.

Common Dolphin - Fishguard Bay from Andrew!

 

Inbox

A Crowder	16:55 (5 hours ago)
to me

Hi Cliff,

This afternoon at 15:00 we were viewing a group of Common Dolphin from Pwllgwaelod, spread out of along a line from cliffs below Fishguard Bay Holiday Park to the small tanker anchored in the mouth of  Fishguard Bay. They were very active, particularly close to the cliffs where a sub group appear to have driven its prey (I remember Bottlenose Dolphin a few years back doing exactly the same thing!). Lots of splashing and some breaching, they were still there when we left about 4.30. Difficult to count because of the spread and distance but we estimated 25-30.

Regards

Andrew

Strumble Diary 28/01/2026

 For a change we had a beautiful clear sky and light winds so I was hopeful of some good shots. I joined the Wednesday survey team (Nadia, Steve, Gon and Maddie) around 11.30am who were already spotting porpoise out in the survey area. Later we were joined by new volunteer Zoe from Broadhaven, so welcome Zoe and I hope you enjoy your time with Sea Trust. 

As the time moved on and the tide race formed we were spotting more Porpoise and while not as many as yesterday the numbers were quite good.  Some distant, but mostly closer allowing for some decent shots in camera. Soon we were spotting Commons coming in from the West and the numbers gradually increased with upward of 120 commons displacing the Porpoise although Gon and Nadia did spot one Porpoise which seemed caught up in a feeding charge by a small group of Commons. The bonus today were two quite distinctly marked Porpoise which I've highlighted below. We concluded the survey at 13.20 approx.

 

Strumble Diary 27/01/2026 (Emily Shoots a Dazzler)

 Given the overnight weather and the rough forecast I didn't think I'd get to Strumble today but as it turned out it was surprisingly clear. 

Before I get into the blog propper I want to highlight an image taken by one of our interns, Emily. We owe so much to our interns for the effort they put in and value they add to Sea Trust every day. Part of what I do is training them and our volunteers to use our camera equipment. So I was delighted today when Emily excitedly showed me a capture of a breaching Porpoise. This is one of the hardest shots to capture and I have to say I am really impressed with how she has taken to using the cameras considering having had no or little experience before joining us. Well done Emily!

 On arrival, the wind was strong and from a Southerly direction with the survey area being sheltered by Garn Fawr from the offshore winds. Some thirty or so Gannets were wheeling and diving about two miles out, just too far in the conditions to see what was below them but I suspected Commons. Just before 11am a pod of twenty or so Commons passed by going East toward Newport Bay, with a break then before a few porpoise showed up. They were quite distant but at least they were there. Anna arrived with four of our interns and we were soon seeing good numbers of porps coming to feed in front of us. At one point we had two seperate groups around 200mtrs apart. The largest group of some seven or so animals started group feeding, which is where they organise into a coordinated entity with each animal acting to the benefit of all rather than individually dashing here and there after fish.

With so many porpoise around I was hopeful of catching a marked animal and happily that was the case. Just the one, but one I feel we've had before. They stayed around for well over an hour keeping our shutter fingers busy which always helps to put the chill of the wind out of mind for a short while. Session ended, for me anyway, at 12.30pm and I think for the others shortly afterwards

 

Strumble Diary 22/01/2026

 The weather forecast for the day was not that good but thankfully the majority of the morning was OK. We were praying the rain would hold off as we had some special visitors join us for the day. I'm sorry that's all I can tell you about that due to contractual agreements but I will say that hopefully the result will be some welcome national coverage of Sea Trust, what we do, and will raise our profile in the marine conservation arena. Needless to say that when things are finalised we will bring further news via this blog and our socials.

Now to the survey.

When I arrived at 09.15 there were a good number of Commons milling around and feeding over the area in front of the lookout. Over the next hour or so the numbers increased and I estimate around a hundred in total. At this time we were at the top of the tide so were happy to see such good numbers as they usually move off in the slack between tides. The Thursday survey team arrived with Fran leading the volunteers plus our interns. Later as the ebb flow got going the dolphins moved off and a few Porpoise moved in but stayed fairly distant. Sightings were scarce over the next hour or so with just the odd distand porp moving around.  With the time approaching 1pm the rain started to disrupt proceedings so it was time to pack up the kit and make our way home.