Diving Guillemot

[Seal diver]

As you know the Farne Islands (as well as being excellent for seal encounters!) is host to thousands of sea birds at this time of year, with everything from puffins & guillemots to arctic terns and fulmers.

I think you'll find this short (12sec) clip taken on Sunday (6th May) quite interesting.



It's always nice to see birds (in this case a guillemot) "flying".

Safe diving

Ben. "Seal diver"

New seals >> YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

bburville@hotmail.com

mob: 07932 577608

[SimonK]

Nice one Ben, remember getting 'dive bombed' off St Abbs - I think they mistook the bubbles for fish.

Simon

[Seal diver]

Thanks. I think you're right and the bubbles may well catch the light and look like fish.
Safe diving,
Ben

[Richard Mason]

Originally Posted by Seal diver

As you know the Farne Islands (as well as being excellent for seal encounters!) is host to thousands of sea birds at this time of year, with everything from puffins & guillemots to arctic terns and fulmers.

I think you'll find this short (12sec) clip taken on Sunday (6th May) quite interesting.



It's always nice to see birds (in this case a guillemot) "flying".

Safe diving

Ben. "Seal diver"

New seals >> YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

bburville@hotmail.com

mob: 07932 577608

Excellent video, Used to see a lot of them when I lived in England but never "flying" from that angle. That business with the seal - any danger of getting your fingers chewed? I've heard that the Fur Seals here will "taste" your gloves too but whenever I've dived with them, they've always kept their distance - meaning just past arms length.

I've seen fairy penguins occasionally on a dive but they are like pocket rockets, pretty hard to video,just a blur and a slipstream of bubbles.

[Seal diver]

The seals have the potential to bite through your hand- so my advice is offer a fist at first until you are very aware of exactly what's going on.

They will only be mouthing your hand to check what you are made of and at times (mainly pups) the whole thing can turn into a great game .... not dissimilar to a dog playing with a stick whilst you have hold of the other end!
When this happens you have to be VERY careful as there is a fine line between boisterous behaviour and a chew that is a bit too hard and could easily break your skin!

Seals have a number of bugs in their mouths (including Strep grypus (a new species 2005!) and some mycoplasma) these have the potential to cause unpleasant infections.

Dog bites aren't as bad as cat bites which aren't as bad as human bites (in terms of infection risk).... I'm not sure where seals fit into the order!

I once forget my gloves (idiot!) I don't wear them just to keep warm, I wear them to provide some slight protection from chewing / mouthing.
I ended up playing with a very boisterous seal pup who thought that it was a great game to bite my hand and attempt to pull my wife's hood off!
Eventually she calmed down a little but she did nick my hand with her needle sharp teeth. I bled it underwater in the salty water and it never got infected.

For more guillemot clips ...that are better have a look at YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Safe diving,
Ben "Seal diver"

[BrianG]

Excellent video Ben, I had a similar experience when diving the Snowdonia at the Farnes. The most amazing however was while diving the Koln in Scapa. I was at 36 metres when a bird flew under me and up the deck of the wreck. It looked like a silver dart under the water with all the air bubbles trapped in its feathers. i did not know they could dive to such depths.
Keep posting the pics they are very enjoyable.

[Seal diver]

By request more diving birds ....





PS I am trying to film seals catching fish underwater. I've seen it twice - once pups chasing baby pollack and another time (yesterday) pups darting into a shoal of sand-eel briefly. Still not on camera ...yet! If anyone has seen this IN THE UK then please do let me know. It is rare as the adults tend to feed in open water offhore often at depth.

Safe diving,
Ben "Seal diver"
Face to face with seals....this way>YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.