Edit (21/05/18): Due to an issue with Yahoo, I no longer have access to the Flickr account linked below. If you're interested in my photography, check me out at theAdhocracyUK instead.
Over a year ago I received a voucher. Over a month ago I finally managed to cash it in. The result? A fantastic day out in Dartmouth with the Great Escapes team! We spent the morning down on the beach (what little there was... after a year you'd think we'd have learned to check for spring tides!) with some of the fantastic staff, learning all about the ecosystems of the seashore, rock pools and general intertidal zone. I honestly cannot recommend the Seashore Safari enough to anyone interested in biology, conservation or animals; you may not be looking at the "usual" marine draws (no cetaceans in sight, I'm afraid) but I've never had a more informative and enthusiastic guide in the UK and now have a much deeper understanding of (and interest in) this fascinating and completely accessible world. Safari is not a misnomer in this instance, it actually felt like that kind of experience.
The afternoon was largely absorbed by a longer trip out on the company's rib, down the coastline from Dartmouth to a breeding colony of Fulmars, which I hadn't realised even came this far south. After a brief (and unsuccessful) trip up the River Dart in search of seals enjoying the calmer river waters, we were treated to a fantastic lunch hamper and then bid farewell to the great crew at Great Escapes. We had a little time to kill but the weather set in, so ended up idling around the Dartmouth Museum, which was interesting enough but not boundary-pushing (unless you're a fan of model ships, in which case you've probably already been... twice), before heading home.
Overall a really fun day with total information overload! On that note, although I've tried to gather my thoughts together in Lightroom (which therefore appear as captions in Flickr - and can I just take a moment to point out how momentous it is that I both have a Flickr and have actually published an album on it!) but almost certainly got a few things muddled in the interim month, so apologies if I've inadvertently spread misinformation! I'd also like to take a second to record/recommend both the RSPB's Bird By Name subsite and the frankly incredible The Seashore website, both of which were crucial in fact-checking and are amazing resources if you fancy a self-guided seashore safari yourself.
Update: This article was originally published on the 04/05/16. Due to a content migration, the post date has been shifted to the day on which we actually went on the seashore safari.
