Glorious weather this past weekend (17th – 18th June)! Down in Lowestoft we were lucky enough to have some of Suffolk’s finest weather, and with that came some beautiful conditions for boat trips! As the First Light Festival was kicking off on Lowestoft’s South Beach, we too were kicking into action with our first boat trip of the weekend, off to see the Seals at Scroby Sands. We departed Lowestoft Harbour with a near full boat, heading through the pier heads before turning North towards Norfolk’s seaside resort of Great Yarmouth.
Scroby Sands is a naturally occurring offshore sand bank/shoal 4 miles off the coast from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. As well as a wind-farm of 30 wind turbines, producing up to 60MW of power, Scroby Sands is also home to hundreds of seals.
The sand-bank at Scroby Sands itself is huge, stretching for miles, and is constantly on the move with the rise and fall of each successive tide. As we approach on our purpose built jet boat, we slow right down. We can already hear the seals in the distance and we’re quickly getting sightings of them in the water all around us. We drop anchor a short distance from the western edge of Scroby Sands and switch off our engine. All is silent and peaceful.
Scroby Sands is a naturally occurring offshore sand bank/shoal 4 miles off the coast from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. As well as a wind-farm of 30 wind turbines, producing up to 60MW of power, Scroby Sands is also home to hundreds of seals.
We’ve had some unusually clear waters recently, with visibility at least a metre and half, where you can clearly see seals swimming around underneath us, truly a sight and one our passengers loved! Conditions were as flat as a millpond, with barely a wave or ripple inside. It truly was magical conditions at Scroby Sands, and the seals clearly agreed as they all swam up and around the boat to meet us, posing for photos! The seals at Scroby Sands always see Jet Adventures as a friendly face, although sometimes we don’t know who is more curious, us or the seals!?
Recently we’ve been noticing more seals on the Eastern (outer bank) of Scroby Sands. We think this may be due to more mackerel out that way, and if you were a seal of course you’d stick around where all the food is! They can’t get enough of it. As soon as High Water arrives, they are washed off the Scroby Sands and hunt for fish until they’re too full and return back at Low Water to rest again on Scroby Sands.
This weekend at Scroby Sands was truly a magical weekend for all involved and we’re only just getting started, with all of summer still ahead of us for lots more boat trips all over the coast between Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth. We’ve got some good weather incoming!
So all that’s left to do then is book a boat trip with us to see the seals at Scroby Sands and you too can enjoy this absolutely amazing spectacle that only few ever get to see, all protected by the North Sea. It’s your perfect next adventure when looking for things to do in Lowestoft!