THE ARC OF A DIVER

I went kayaking mid-morning. It was almost ideal conditions with a nearly high tide and a light swell.
The sun was out of the clouds but it was still a bit coolish - ideal for a good work-out. An hour or so of hard paddling is better than going to the gym.

I  went out for a couple of hours going around to Little Munro Bay. There was a lot of sea bird activity with gannets and terns diving into the sea to catch fish.

The terns, being lighter dive down and enter the water for a foot or so and pop back up. Sometimes they zoom down and look as if they are going to go in but level out at the last moment, obviously hunting for insects flying just above the water.

(photo by Brocken Inaglory)

The gannets, being much bigger and heavier descend from higher and plunge into the sea at great speed, disappearing for a few seconds. It is spectacular to see and I always like it. Today, a gannet was fishing and diving in really close to me - about 20' away so I could see it really clearly. It flies up beating its wings to get altitude and then it glides in circles watching the water. When it spies something it plummets with its wings outstretched like a high diver does with arms out. It descends fast but gracefully and just before it hits the water it folds its wings tight against its body and arrows in.



(Photo by Simon Clancy)



This gannet did this about 10 times close to me before moving further away. I marked it as if I was a judge at the Olympics giving it points for approach, style, gracefulness and splash. Generally it was getting 8.5 out of 10 but a couple of times it entered the water perfectly with hardly a splash or ripple so I gave it perfect scores.

The gannet is a big bird up to a metre long so when it hits the water there is a noticeable 'thump'.