fin whale and gannet

It was the most fantastic day out . BAT and I went out together on a Cork Whale Watch boat trip. The sea was calm and I needn't have worried, I wasn't queasy at all, in fact I enjoyed every minute of it.
It was fascinating to see the familiar coastline from an unfamiliar angle, to get a glimpse into the nooks and crannies that cannot be accessed by land, to see places where the seals hang out, to see gannets and fulmers and guillemots and many other less familiar birds.
Dolphins came to play around the boat, incredibly fast and agile and a joy to watch but the high point was to spend an hour following two fin whales, watching them blow their spumes of water high into the air, then roll through the waves huge and grey and streamlined and perfect. Beautiful.

It's probably better viewed large.

I put some other shots here