The Lone Kayaker

You may have come across the increasingly popular kayaking fanatic whilst browsing ocean and dolphin information online. Many people have, and know him as ‘The Lone Kayaker’, but he is actually Rupert Kirkwood, retired Devonshire based vet and kayaking extraordinaire!

Rupert has become rather addicted to kayaking. In fact he spends so much time in his kayak that in one week, whilst searching for cetaceans, he managed to clock up over 100 miles!
His fitness levels and dedication to find dolphins and whales is quite incredible and he achieves some serious results too! For our National Whale & Dolphin Watch week this August he reported 315 common dolphin, 19 harbour porpoise and one minke whale in just four different locations!

Rupert says, “There is nothing I love more than sitting in my little kayak on a flat calm sea, several miles from the shore. At this time of the year not many minutes go past without hearing the puff of a porpoise or the splash of a dolphin or maybe even the great blast of a minke whale. They show absolutely no fear of me or my little craft…in fact many come over to investigate.“

Rupert gets up close to many of the cetaceans he sees and explains why, “Seeing a whale is off-the-scale excitement for me and something I thought I would never experience. Kayaks have one big advantage over a boat with an engine. They are completely silent so on a calm day I can hear the blow of a whale from a mile away! Most of the whales I have encountered I have heard blowing first…in fact on several occasions I have heard the big breath and never seen the whale. Once, one came up so close behind me I felt the cool spray on the back off my neck, but by the time I turned round it had submerged and I never saw it at all!“

Rupert kayaks all over the south west, particularly in Mounts Bay, “I had a good look at a minke whale off Mousehole, Cornwall, a few weeks ago. It was close enough to hear the air being drawn in through those big tubes just before it dived, as well as the blast when it exhaled. I also smelled its bad breath! Minke whales used to be called stinky minkes – it’s not fishy…it’s just foul!”

As well as spotting cetaceans, Rupert also manages to get up close to other creatures in and out of the water, “When I was in Falmouth Bay, I couldn’t work out what was causing the roaring noise and the line of splashes on the horizon…until I paddled over and found myself in the middle of a feeding frenzy of hundreds of tunas! They had herded a school of anchovy into a bait ball and were busy eating their way through it with spray flying everywhere and throwing up such big waves that I thought I was going to capsize. Incredible! It was an unforgettable experience.“

Rupert explains, “As well as cetaceans there have been lots of other amazing sea creatures for me to enjoy. I have always been a fan of sea-birds, and I have had some unbelievably close views of some very rare shearwaters and skuas.”

Rupert has very kindly agreed to contribute to our monthly newsletter, Newsplash, that we send out to our young eco-warrior members. He has already written five thrilling articles for our readers, and has illustrated his stories with stunning photographs of cetaceans also underwater getting chatty with him.

Why not become a member now and start reading all about Rupert’s watery adventures. You can also catch up with the stories he has already told us about

Just £3.50 to join and take responsibility of a UK bottlenose dolphin!