Sri Lanka Day 14 - Mirissa Pelagic

Another early morning, another packed breakfast . . . . .  today we were off on a pelagic looking for dolphins and whales.  When we arrived at the boatyard we were furnished with yet another packed breakfast - an embarrassment of riches (or not depending on your love of meals in cardboard boxes!).

The Guidelines

The sign on a nearby wall set the tone for the day - or so we thought . . .  sadly not - however more of that shortly.

Once we were all on board, we set off for the open sea.   New birds added to the list were, in no particular order, Bridled Tern, Common Tern and Pomarine Skua/Jaeger. 

New Mammals - unsurprisingly; Spinner Dolphin (at least 15), Bryde's Whale (4), and several groups of Flying Fish.

The most disappointing part of the whole experience was when there were 13 boats all chasing after one animal.   They were going along in two lines parallel to each other but either side of the whale, and at one point a boat actually cut across the gap over the path of the Bryde's Whale!!

Spinner Dolphin

We were not happy to say the least, however, eventually all but one of the boats went back to port - their rather noisy enthusiastic passengers having had their fill.   Then the two boats managed to find another Whale and follow it at the recommended distance.   Our captain was brilliant, managing to pace the animal whilst keeping away and giving us warning as it was about to breech.   A fantastic experience after all.

As we headed back to port there was a large group of terns ahead of us, and in the harbour we had an Amur Falcon fly overhead.   Sadly it was spotted through the gaps in the canopy and therefore views were a little limited to say the least.

Bryde's Whale

After a coconut water we were back to the hotel for lunch and some R&R.

In the afternoon several of us headed off for a wander by the harbour, (access gained by the purchase of some guest passes) to see if we could relocate the falcon, but no luck.  

Good views of some crabs, lizards, butterflies and terns.  It was great to get a feel for the working harbour and what the life of the area is based on.   The catch was in and the men were checking the nets and in some cases groups of them sat in the shade mending any holes.

Crimson Rose

It would be great if they could police the use of the boats which take tourists to see the whales.  Whilst it is brilliant that the local people are making a living from their natural heritage, it seems that they are not quite aware of the damage they could do to both the wildlife and their own income in the future by not following the guidelines.   A lesson to be learned by us all I fear.