The following blog post was originally written for ORCA and posted on https://www.orca.org.uk/.
It is July already! Summer really is here, with some really warm /hot weather in the middle of this rotation it definitely felt like summer. Unfortunately the North Sea hasn’t given of any fireworks regarding sightings. Although the harbour porpoises and grey seals were doing their best to entertain the passengers, just like the White-beaked dolphins on the UK side. We did have some amazing conditions for observing especially on the Dutch side with some porpoises and very eager and enthusiastic passengers. And also saw lots of strange things floating by.
There were a couple memorable evenings leaving IJmuiden with near perfect conditions (sea state 1 and no swell). I had quite a few really enthusiastic people with me on the observation deck who got quite good at observing and spotting porpoises. A mother and her daughter where very interested and stayed out with me for a couple of hours. When I started my survey we saw some porpoises quite quickly after one after another, then nothing for a long time. It was getting close to sunset, when we started joking how amazing it would be to see something come up whilst the sun is setting. We still think that the porpoises were actually listening to us because within minutes the first porpoise came up, later followed by two small groups of porpoises which included calves. Everyone who had come to the observation deck to watch the sunset, forgot about the setting sun. Who needs to see the sun set into the sea when one can look for porpoises! It was amazing to see people get so excited to see porpoises, normally people just want to see dolphins and whales, and then the porpoises simply get overlooked. But that evening the harbour porpoises stole the show. There was one evening where we left the port of Tyne very late, but were treated with a pod of around 7 white-beaked dolphins. Who were first milling on the horizon and then started jumping and porpoising away, so everyone had a great look on these amazing acrobatic dolphins!
When there are no marine mammals, the gannets still get all the attention, especially when, from time to time, they are soaring just above the observation deck for a couple of minutes to actual hours. Totally not distracting especially when they start grooming whilst soaring.
Is it a cetacean? Is it a bird? No it’s a balloon.
There is something else though, that I and the passengers joining me started to notice during this rotation. The amount of rubbish I am seeing out at sea. Not just any rubbish, mostly (foil) balloons. And with the heatwave some footballs, basketballs and even some inflatable beach beds floated by on the North Sea.
But it’s the (foil) balloon I want to talk about, as at some point I started seeing multiple each day which made me start photographing these balloons if I had a chance. (the collage is only a small fraction of what I have seen) And these balloons float by in many shapes and sizes, from round ones to letters, numbers, fruits and even animals. For these balloons it takes many, many years to decompose. Even the latex balloons, which are sometimes sold as biodegradable and sustainable, take about 4 months to 6 years to decompose. And this is still enough time for wildlife to be harmed. When these balloons are not anchored properly they might fly away and end up in nature or the sea. And in these environments the wildlife suffers. Especially out at sea where these balloons keep afloat and travel long distances. Wildlife might choke on the strings, get entangled in the strings or mistake the balloon for a jellyfish and try to eat it. When they ingest the balloons, it may block the stomach or the intestines which could lead to starvation. And honestly I was, and still am, surprised by the amount of balloons I have seen. Luckily balloons are more and more being banned. Especially the ceremonial releases of balloons are being criticised. Many municipalities in the Netherlands have put a complete ban on the release of balloons and some are strongly discouraging the release of balloons. Now we do need to see this change happen in more countries, and also change from the (foil) balloons as a way to decorate a party. We need to start thinking on better and environmentally friendly way to decorate parties and keep the earths wildlife and nature save.
Hopefully during my next rotations I’ll see some more amazing wildlife and less balloons and other rubbish that doesn’t belong in the sea.
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