Gobbins and Isle of Muck 27 July 2022

 

At anchor inside Muck

A good forecast provided us with an opportunity to take Patrick (over from London), and Judy and Ashley (up from Crossgar) on a day out to visit the Gobbins and the Isle of Muck (Co Antrim). 

A late morning start meant that we hadn’t been at sea too long before we heard the ducks (Gordon’s phone alarm at 12.30 - a twice a day event!) which got us into wildlife watching mode. We looked for Minke Whales all day but saw none. We looked for Puffins at the Gobbins but saw none.

Whale(less) Watching

Puffin(less) watching 

We did see several Harbour Porpoises, plenty of Kittiwakes and loads of Manx Shearwaters.  The large gulls on Muck seem to have done okay this season - there were quite a few fledged young.  

The main seabird breeding cliffs at the Gobbins.  The end of the Gobbins Cliff Path can be seen at the bottom of the cliffs at far left.

However, we also saw several dead guillemots, we assume victims of avian influenza, although not as many as we thought we might, plus a very sick looking Great Black-backed Gull on the rocks below the cliffs. There also were almost no auks on the cliffs, we hope because it is late in the season rather than the avian flu.

At Muck we went round the north of the island and anchored in the inside bay.  The holding was a bit weedy but we didn’t need particularly good holding as we only wanted to stop for lunch.

And a very nice lunch it was!

If only selfies would takes themselves!

We made it back into Bangor at about 17.00 after a wonderful day out.  The best of company. Thanks.

Our route:















































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