More from the Plymouth-Santandar trip.

I photographed 4 different species of Shearwater on last weeks trip. Great Shearwater and Manx seemed to be the most numerous. The Manx is our most common in UK waters whereas Great breeds in the Islands of and around, Tristan da Cuna. I find it remarkable that Great Shearwater are in British waters at this time of year.  The Manx Shearwater is a small shearwater. Its straight slim wings are black above and white below. It flies with a series of rapid stiff-winged flaps followed by long glides over the surface of the sea, occasionally banking or 'shearing' (tilting in flight, with one wing held higher than the other). It breeds in groups in the UK, on offshore islands where it is safe from rats and other ground predators. Birds leave their nest sites in July to migrate to the coast of South America, where they spend the winter, returning in late February and March. On the trip we also saw numerous Common Dolphin.....se below.