yelkouan shearwaters on the bosphorus (1 Viewer)

[James Lowther]

hello,
just thought i'd leave a little stub of a thread in case anyone's ever trawling the forums for info in the future.
It may be out there somewhere already but just by looking at maps and having a punt i came across a little square next to a mosque on the west shore of the bosphorus at ortakoy, just south of the bridge, where the straights are pretty narrow and you can get really nice views of yelkouan shearwater, much better than at for example Seraglio point.
I walked there from my hotel which was in the same part of town but it should be relatively easy to reach by bus from taksim, besiktas, kabatas etc.
cheers,
James

 

[John o'Sullivan]

Arrived in Istanbul on Friday 1st Oct. Wandered down to seafront below Sultanhamet. Distant Yelkouan Shears but very close pods of Dolphin. Mostly Bottlenose and one other smaller species. The bottlenose repeatedly showing and breaching with the smaller species only showing as their backs/fins broke the water surface. Also thousands of gulls wheeling around. No sign of similar gull/dolphin/shearwater numbers over next few days so probably big numbers of fish present that evening.

 

[John o'Sullivan]

I found this story re the dolphins in the Bosphorus.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9446805

 

[Swissboy]

.....really nice views of yelkouan shearwater, much better than at for example Seraglio point.
....James

We had them regularly from the ferry boat as we crossed the Bosphorus between the European side and the Asian side. Often, they come quite close.