All at Sea

 This week I had the privilege of traveling to Skomer Island which lies just off the Pembrokeshire coast and which is home at this time of year to over 42,000 Atlantic Puffins, over 710,000 Manx Shearwater and a host of other sea birds including Razorbills, Guillemots, Kittiwake, Fulmar and Gannets all of which come to the island as it provides a safe nesting site and abundant food in the local waters on which to raise their chicks. I will say more about the birds and share some of my favourite photos from the trip in future posts.

However before I get onto that I have some shots from the night before that are worth sharing over the next couple of days. I took the opportunity to make this my first solo camping trip of the year and stayed on a site overlooking St Brides Bay and after I had pitched up and got myself organised I took a short walk along a section of the Pembrokeshire coastal path to enjoy the scenery and the sunset.

The first of todays shots was taken from Wooltack Point looking out to sea past Skomer. It was taken at a similar time to the third image which is why the colours in the sky are similar. The second image was taken a little earlier and at the time the sun was still just above a bank of cloud so the colours are not so warm as when it dipped below the cloud and and set over the horizon.

The sea during the evening was pretty calm considering there was a strong westerly breeze, it was much more lively then next day on the crossing to the island.

The ships in St Brides Bay (there were about 10 in all) are oil and gas tankers which have unloaded their cargo at Milford Haven. They remain at anchor until they are dispatched to their next location, apparently they can wait for anything between one week and six months before moving on, all the time with a full complement of crew aboard.

Guiding Light

The River Mersey is an incredibly busy shipping lane as ships arrive from all around the world, including oil tankers bound for the refinery at Stanlow and the container port at Seaforth as well as the freight terminal at 12 Quays. The river also hosts some of the worlds biggest cruise liners that call in at Liverpool's Pier Head in the shadow of its Three Graces; a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Some of the bigger ships like this Greek registered tanker need a little help to navigate the channels into port so the river pilot will guide them in. 

In times past the Lighthouse would have also played its part in marking the safe passage into the river from the often stormy Liverpool Bay and the Irish Sea.

 

Commitment

The tide was high and these two guys were carrying on regardless of the fact that the fish just weren't biting.

They were after cod and had been fishing for an hour or two and apparently because there was too much fresh water in the river they'd caught nothing. In spite of the cold and wind they were determined to stick it out for a few more hours yet. I hope their efforts were rewarded.

One man and his dog

As promised yesterday I have included a little bit of colour in my post today.  I can't completely get away from the black and white vibe though and I really like the second image with all of the birds flying around.

I have included the first shot because I was impressed by the helipad and although I am not entirely sure what purpose this ship serves but I think it might be something to do with servicing the oil and gas rigs out in Liverpool bay and the Irish Sea.  I have made a graduated adjustment to the exposure to highlight the clouds behind the bright colours of the ship's hull.

The man and his dog struck me a quite light hearted given how dull and grey everything else around it was.  He stands on top of what I think was once a pub, looking out towards the docks.  I thought it was a nice thing to share...