In this first pelagic of July, we left the harbour of O Grove early in the morning excited by the good weather forecast. There was a good visibility and high temperatures throughout the cruise, but we were somewhat worried about the NE wind.
As we left the port we saw a flock of common swifts and while sailing through the 'ria' of Arousa towards its mouth we saw many yellow-legged and Mediterranean gulls, European shags and a peregrine falcon flying to the NW in the mussel rafts.
Balearic shearwaters appeared soon and were able to enjoy their shallow dives near the boat. Off Sálvora island a group of common dolphins traveled also with us next to the bow, and a sooty shearwater and several Sandwich terns were spotted too. Once in the 'chumming' places (12 nm offshore), a Wilson's storm petrel, a single great skua, more Balearic shearwaters and sunfish approached to the boat.
In the way back, once in the 'ria', there was also a lonely bottlenose dolphin.
Here below is the detailed list of species, with highlights in bold and approximate numbers in italics:
| SEABIRDS GALICIA | 26/07/2014 | |||
| Latin name | English name | N | ||
| Puffinus mauretanicus | Balearic shearwater | 56 | ||
| Puffinus griseus | Sooty shearwater | 2 | ||
| Oceanites oceanicus | Wilson's storm-petrel | 1 | ||
| Phalacrocorax carbo | Great cormorant | 6 | ||
| Phalacrocorax aristotelis | European shag | 231 | ||
| Morus bassanus | Northern gannet | 21 | ||
| Stercorarius skua | Great skua | 3 | ||
| Larus melanocephalus | Mediterranean gull | 5 | ||
| Chroicocephalus ridibundus | Black-headed gull | 2 | ||
| Larus michahellis | Yellow-legged gull | 1062 | ||
| Larus fuscus | Lesser black-backed gull | 9 | ||
| Larus marinus | Great black-backed gull | 3 | ||
| Sterna sandvicensis | Sandwich tern | 2 | ||
| Apus apus | Common swift | 10 | ||
| Falco peregrinus | Peregrine falcon | 1 | ||
| Delphinus delphis | Common dolphin | 24 | ||
| Tursiops truncatus | Bottlenose dolphin | 1 | ||
| Mola mola | Sunfish | 1 | ||
And some photos (c) Xoán Diéguez, Xosé Luis Fernández Carnero, Cosme Damián Romay, Atocha Ramos ans José Luis Lorenzo:
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| The pattern. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) J. L. Lorenzo. |
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| Some participants in the pelagic. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) J. L. Lorenzo. |
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| Some participants in the pelagic. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) J. L. Lorenzo. |
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| Some participants in the pelagic. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) J. L. Lorenzo. |
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| Northen gannet Morus bassanus and great skua Stercorarius skua. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) J. L. Lorenzo. |
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| Northen gannet Morus bassanus .26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) J. L. Lorenzo. |
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| Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) J. L. Lorenzo. |
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| Wilson's storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) J. L. Lorenzo. |
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| Wilson's storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) J. L. Lorenzo. |
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| Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) J. L. Lorenzo. |
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| Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) J. L. Lorenzo. |
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| Northern gannet Morus bassanus. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) Xosé L. Fernández Carnero. |
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| European shags Phalacrocorax aristotelis. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) Xoán Diéguez. |
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Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) C.D. Romay.
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| Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) C.D. Romay. |
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| Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) Atocha Ramos. |
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| Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) Atocha Ramos. |
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| Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus and yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) Atocha Ramos. |
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| Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) Xoán Diéguez. |
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Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) Xoán Diéguez.
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| Great skua Stercorarius skua. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) C.D. Romay. |
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| Great skua Stercorarius skua. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) Xoán Diéguez. |
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Common dolphin Delphinus delphis. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) Xoán Diéguez.
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| Sunfish Mola mola. 26/07/2014. SW Galicia (c) C.D. Romay. |
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