We couldn’t resist the lure of a rare calm winter’s day. Hardly any wind and minimal groundswell meant an open coast day with a chance of offshore paddling was on the cards.
Torbay was our destination and dolphins were our target species.
I met up with son Henry in the car park. He was keen to add to his impressive wildlife portfolio in ‘Henry Kirkwood Filmmaking.’
Our usual two-pronged approach, with me on the water and Henry on dry land, was today enhanced by the use of a pair of Christmas walkie-talkies. The desperate panic to answer a mobile with wet fingers without send it spinning into the depths was a thing of the past. Instant and simple communication…yippee.
The only issue was there were no dolphins. I paddled around for four hours up to a mile offshore and there just weren’t any around. Hezzer, with his eyes sharper than any Peregrine, saw a large pod many miles offshore with a few individuals leaping. I wasn’t going all the way out there in my floating steed of the day, my Gumotex Safari inflatable kayak.
No problem…that is the challenge, and fun, of looking for dolphins. They are highly mobile and a no-show is common. It makes it all the more rewarding when they do appear.
However, there is always something to enjoy, and today there were Porpoises. They are resident in the Torbay area and hunt along the current interfaces off the headlands which are conveniently marked by lines of smooth water at the surface. They are extremely unobtrusive and surface without a splash and cruise around singly or in small groups so are very much more difficult to spot than a pod of dolphins.
They are overlooked by most.
They are a speciality from seeing from the silence of a kayak because you can hear their characteristic puff as they surface, especially the first one after a dive, which is the loudest.
Today one gave me quite a jump as it popped up just a few feet behind me.
Our total for the day was ten or eleven… a couple of groups of three including a calf, and a few singletons.
It’s always a bit of a pity when cetacean observers report that they had ‘only’ seen porpoises. OK, they are not a showy, splashy sociable or as engaging as dolphins, but their shy aloofness makes them none the less endearing. Nothing ‘only’ about them at all.
They are the Thomas the Tank Engine of the cetacean world. Small and chuffy but with lots of personality.
Out on the sea, there are always seabirds, especially in this area. The headlands of Torbay generate swirling tidal currents which mix up nutrients that attract fish. Kittiwakes and other Gulls dipped to the surface and the occasional Gannet roved overhead.
Most remarkable were the large number of Guillemots, most already sporting a smart breeding plumage, who were crammed together on their breeding ledges. A bit early for that sort of thing, I would have thought.
Every so often the entire lot would pour off the cliffs like a liquid, do a circuit around the bay and then attempt to squeeze back onto their favourite spot like commuters on the underground.
Just getting ready for the forthcoming season, I suppose.
After enjoying the Guillemot show, I couldn’t resist an interlude of high speed kayak-caving…
A handful of Purple Sandpipers were dotted about on the most exposed barnacle-encrusted rocks. They are also very endearing, because they are exceptionally tame. They are overlooked by all but dedicated ornithologists because they are small, cryptically camouflaged and spent a lot of time immobile.
They are also another eyeball speciality from a kayak. You will only see them if you spend your whole time scrutinising long stretches of coast for long periods of time. Fortunate, because that’s what I do.
The action didn’t stop there. Back in the marina I was befriended by an extremely playful seal pup who started his performance by pulling at my kayak fin with his teeth and bumping the bottom. He then followed very closely, swimming upside down, before being distracted by a couple of absurdly fluffy dogs on the breakwater.
After losing interest in all things human and canine, it locked on to a Garfish and chased it with an exasperating turn of speed. The unfortunate fish repeatedly leapt clear of the surface while the bow wave from the seal was surging just behind.
Needless to say, the seal caught it’s lunch.
For a view of the day from Henry’s perspective, watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKtXLPK6Gn0&t=504s
It’s always worth turfing out because there’s always something. In fact there’s usually quite a lot.
The Lone Kayaker 
‘Porpoise approaching’ cunningly disguised as marine ordnance.