AK Wildlife Cruises — Local services in England

On Friday 19th September, we embarked on one of AK Wildlife Tours 5hr Offshore Whale trips. I booked this trips many weeks ahead of time and travelled 6.5hrs in the hope of spotting a Fin Whale. Things got off to a good start with the weather as recent strong winds has calmed down significantly, providing us with a favourable and comfortable sea state for exploring the open waters.

There was excitement from the off as word started to spread that an enormous Fin Whale had been reported by local fisherman and we were heading in its direction and not stopping for anything else until we find it. We arrived at the Fin Whales last known location and started to search for it..

The tension was palpable. Hoping and somewhat expecting this huge animal to appear at any second.. but time ticked by and it was becoming evident that we had just missed the peak of the action as all feeding activity started to simmer down.

We slowly started to move on, knowing that the Fin Whale could still be nearby and we started to scan for any potential clues. While doing so, a massive highlight of the trip occurred. A Long-tailed Skua was sighted as it hassled a gull, which turned out to be a Sabine's Gull! The two birds are both quite scarcely seen in the UK, so it was amazing when they ended up sat next to each other on the water, what lovely birds indeed!

Leaving that excitement behind, we carried on our search and it wasn't long before the magical words echoed round the boat.. "BLOW at 12 o'clock" Captian Keith and his eagle eyed crew had spotted the evidence of the Fin Whale a couple of miles ahead of us. Off we went, everyone on the edge of their seats. As we got closer, it was obvious something big was going on, thousands of birds were feeding and lots of Common Dolphins too and then boom, the Fin Whale errupts from the water in an almighty lunge, feeding on the tightly packed ball of bait fish the other animals had created. The team remained respectful of the animal, not approaching too close, the welfare of the wildlife always comes first, as it should. The Fin Whale offered extraordinary viewing, lunge feeding between regular surfacing and even on a couple of occasions surprised us, by popping up behind the boat at incredibly close proximity. We spent a good while observing this behemoth, in complete awe of its presence.

Eventually, we left the whale to do its thing and started to explore the bird life that had also been drawn to the feeding. Thousands, no joke, actually thousands of Great Shearwater were present. A bird I had never seen before and was my secondary target species of the trip, after the Fin Whale. It was magical to be surrounded by so many birds and to be fortunate to observe them so perfectly.

Towards the end of the trip we were heading back in, along the coast, enjoying the views of Grey Seals and scanning the cliffs for raptors, when the crew spotted an almighty feeding frenzy starting to develop back out at sea. Instead of heading back in, they turned the boat and we headed out to investigate it. Again lots and lots of lovely birds, but this time, the stars of the frenzy were the Bluefin Tuna. Lots of them feeding on a tight ball of bait fish. The Tuna would errupt from the water and these bait fish would go flying, this was all happening ao close to us, very much a Blue Planet eat your heart out moment.

Special thanks to Captain Keith for sharing his seemingly never ending knowledge with us throughout the trip. Be that information about the species we were seeing or invaluable local knowledge of how the local wildlife behaves, patterns shown, likely locations for success, etc. It was very evident that he is a passionate man, passionate about the wildlife, passionate about what he does and as a proffesional in the field myself, that stands out to me and earns my full respect.

Also a shout out to Rhys who was crewing onboard. I first met Rhys last year in Wales and it was great to catch up with him again on this trip. More superb knowledge and a keen spotting eye as well! Just what you...

We enjoyed a 4 hour trip, 13/7/22. We made an online enquiry and shortly after received a call from Georgina who answered our query and we were soon booked in and itching to go. Excellent joining instructions telling you all you need to know. No problem finding the meeting point and Tim the new volunteer soon met us and guided us down to the boat, even pointing out wildlife on the way down. Captain Kietj got us aboard and gave our safety briefing before getting us underway. On the way out to sea Keith and Tim told and showed us what signs to look for and they really made us feel part of the search not just out on a guided tour, and then the fun began. Keith really does have a great eye and it wasn't long before he had homed in on a group of Manx Shearwaters which he had told us often lead to dolphins as well. He wasn't wrong and we were soon surrounded and really didn't know which way to look. We were able to go up in small groups, to the prow of the boat and watch the dolphins swimming with us. A moving and memorable experience. From there Keith just kept leading us to more groups, I think we had 23 'encounters' in total. We've been down here for a month and this was without doubt the best four hours of the whole break. Would we recommend it, wholeheartedly. Would we change anything. Gone on the 7 hour trip,,,twice. I'm sure we'll be back 28th July 2025 A return visit for us and just as magical as our previous trip, made even better with the new boat. More of an adventure than a boat trip with us all encouraged to take part and contribute to the spotting. Our trip had a gentleman in a wheelchair and Capn Keith was careful to align the boat to maximise the views for him. It's things like that, that make a difference and are so lovely to see.. lots of sightings too with some great close up interactions Thanks for a wonderful 4 hours. We...

A really great wild life experience with Captain Keith and his team of Elsa and Ben. A very knowledgeable and able team who, after our initial safety and wild life briefing took us out down Carrick Roads, and then out along coast westwards towards the Lizard. From his top deck vantage and control point, Captain Keith kept us well informed as to what we might see and also how to increase our chances of seeing wild life. Constant vigilance and constant scanning of the sea and sky - including behind us. The reason is of course that unlike a zoo - these are wild animals, not neatly penned but free to roam and play on their three dimensional playground, whether that is the sky above or the sea below. A key indicator of activity and things to see is often the interface between the two worlds - with sea birds picking up by sight and smell activity at or just below the surface. These were all valuable insights built up over years of experience by the Captain. The other benefit we gained was his incredible knowledge and experience of the area - his encyclopedic knowledge of tides, undersea structures, currents and the habits of the wild life in living their daily life of hunting, feeding, playing etc. in this world. Given that we are in a "Zoo" without pens - his insights were invaluable to being in just the right place to see a wide range of birds and animals. By definition a wild life cruise is what it says on the tin - therefore there can be no guarantees as to to sightings. However, Captain Keith, his team and his boat will you give you the best chance possible of an amazing adventure into the amazing sea world of south Cornwall - you will come back with loads of memories and a desire for...