Below is a statement jointly written by Captain Keith B Leeves and Sam Plowright our cetacean researcher alongside some images taken over the last week by Sam and one of our other crew members, Fenton Doggett. The reason that we have decided to share the statement that we have created is to try and showcase the truly phenomenal biodiversity that is found throughout Falmouth Bay on our continual quest for better protection in our Fantastic Bay! So, please give this a read and let us know what your thoughts are!
Over 44 Fin Whales alongside a fabulous diversity of other marine life have poured into the rich and sheltered waters of Falmouth Bay, all recorded by WiSe Master accredited wildlife tour operator AK Wildlife Cruises. Magically, these whales have included mothers and calves side by side and varying sizes of the fantastic Fin Whales, which are the second largest mamm
al in the world, all the way from 40ft to 70ft in the adult mammals and 30ft to 45ft in the calves. The following write up follows the encounter on one of the outstanding dedicated wildlife tours run by Captain Keith B Leeves at AK Wildlife Cruises in Falmouth Bay and is written by cetacean researcher, Sam Plowright.
Fin Whales are probably best known for being the second largest mammal in the oceans behind the humungous Blue Whale, so you can imagine witnessing 6 all in the close proximity of Falmouth’s spectacular shoreline is just mind blowing! We at AK Wildlife Cruises believe that these whales have returned to the Falmouth because of the phenomenal bloom in numbers of bait fish including what are pilchard and herring fry, after having a resurgence in their own numbers since the return of their shoals to carry out their winter spawning inshore amongst our sheltered estuaries and bays.
However, this has all built since the recent series of severe and unseasonable named storms Antoni and Betty, which resulted in the subsequent turbulent mixing in our oceans which will have increased the amount of dissolved oxygen in our oceans and this alongside with the increased temperatures recently has allowed for a sudden bloom in plankton numbers. So, this plankton acts as a food source for the smaller fry fish in the wider ocean as they feed on the water’s surface and draw more and more fry fish out into the area leading to a bait ball becoming formed. This bait ball then acts as the perfect food source for a lunge feeding Fin Whale alongside the larger, fully grown pilchard, herring, and bass, which subsequently draw the larger fish like the Giant Atlantic Bluefin Tuna and cetacean species with the most common being the Short-Beaked Common Dolphins into Falmouth Bay. But this clearly shows an ecosystem working together in such a spectacular fashion with the 6 Fin Whales leading the way.
However, another reason that the sightings of these Fin Whales recently is so special is because we have observed several different intriguing and spectacular behaviours that on each of the recent AK Wildlife Cruises trips, have left the crew and guests truly mesmerised. Captain Keith alongside myself and the other AK crew have had the privilege of witnessing behaviours such as lunge feeding, pectoral fin slapping/waving, short dives, and deep dives and provided such an enormous sense of excitement for all the guests, who had so kindly booked up to join us on these our dedicated wildlife and educational cruises. But I know that these pectoral slaps and the echolocation are used by the whales to find the sources of prey in an area has drawn the further whales to the area. The reasoning behind this is that after one individual was slapping its pectoral fin on the surface, another was then drawn to the area and proceeded to drive through the water at a faster rate before lunge feeding just below the surface. The lunge feeding whale then drew in other apex predators into Falmouth Bay, such as the Short-Beaked Common Dolphins and Giant Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, who set the water boiling in their feeding frenzy subsequently drawing a vast diversity of pelagic seabirds into the opportunity to feast.
At AK Wildlife Cruises we are passionate naturalists and conservationists first and foremost, who love sharing our knowledge and passion for all wildlife in our continual quest to find the very best wildlife possible for everyone to marvel at, photograph and thoroughly enjoy. With myself utilising the outstanding data that Captain Keith B Leeves has collected in his 25 years of running these exceptional dedicated wildlife and educational cruises where he has worked incredibly hard. I have been most fortunate to develop the data, that I have been privileged to be able to help Captain Keith collect, as the AK Wildlife Cruises cetacean researcher and crew. I will now be using this data for my own university dissertation as I head into my final year at Plymouth University, where I will delve into the effects of marine traffic on the numbers of Short-Beaked Common Dolphins in Falmouth Bay by mapping the sightings from AK Wildlife Cruises. But our main goal is to champion the consideration of bringing a Falmouth Bay Marine Reserve to life for the future generations to enjoy, preserving the spectacular wildlife that is currently feeding in the rich and sheltered waters of Falmouth Bay as this is currently being written. Like the fabulous idea that was brought in for Plymouth Sound, which we at AK Wildlife Cruises applaud for their foresight and ingenuity. This is because Falmouth Bay contains a simply mesmerising biodiversity of flora and fauna ranging from some of the rarest pelagic seabirds for the UK to a huge abundance of marine life under the surface and of course the resurgence of various baleen whale species, since the introduction of the International Whaling Commission allowing for the spectacular sightings that we have had recently at AK Wildlife Cruises. We are willing to work with any groups to try and bring this vision to life as our goal is to bring forward better protection to our simply incredible Falmouth Bay.
