Rupert Kirkwood is living every paddler’s dream. From whales to leaping tuna, this paddler spends his time exploring the waters and experiencing the wildlife of southwest England building an impressive resume of close encounters along the way.
Rupert, who goes by The Lone Kayaker, has plunged into the world of wildlife paddling close to home, with his filmmaker son Henry Kirkwood there to document his close encounters. While kayaking off the coast of western Wales, Rupert had an encounter most paddlers can only dream of with a pod of bottlenose dolphins.
Father and son duo document wildlife and explore waterways in southwest England by kayak
“I have kayaked every inch of the coast of SW England, from Poole to Minehead, all 1156 miles of it,” wrote Rupert in his blog. “It really is that far if you paddle up every creek as far as you can get at high tide, and out to every island. Also 2,000 miles in Scotland, and short jaunts in Spain, USA, Mexico, Greenland, Chile, and Antarctica.”
Rupert has paddled with ocean sunfish, minke whales, Risso’s dolphins, seals and even humpback whales. Together with Henry, the father-son duo have experienced and captured close encounters with wildlife throughout southwestern Great Britain. One of their most memorable and viral encounters included Rupert in his comparatively small kayak, surrounded by leaping bluefin tuna, which weigh up to 600 pounds.
Family has the wildlife experience of a lifetime in Cardigan Bay, Wales
On a sunny day in western Wales, the family watched from cliffs above Cardigan Bay scouting out their route before heading out for a beautiful day of paddling.
Western Wales is home to a semi-resident population of bottlenose dolphins based in Cardigan Bay. Occasionally, these bottlenose dolphins can travel in groups of more than a hundred.
With a glassy sea, the father-son duo spent their first morning paddling past jellyfish and kittiwakes then hiking headlands to scout for bottlenose dolphins. The second day, the pair became a trio, joined by Rupert’s wife and Henry’s mother, and they paddled toward where they had seen the bottlenose dolphins the previous day.
It wasn’t long before they spotted bottlenose dolphins in the distance and took their paddles out of the water to watch from a distance. The curious dolphins came over to check out the kayaks, giving this family an up-close encounter with one of the ocean’s most notoriously playful critters.
“I didn’t want to spend all my time photographing because I wanted to enjoy seeing them as well,” shared Rupert.
Bottlenose dolphins played around the kayaks, diving beneath them and one even surfaced with a fish in its mouth near the paddles.
Henry launched a drone from the kayak to get footage of the bottlenose dolphins from a distance above.
“Dad continued to paddle in a straight line to avoid disturbing the dolphins but then they decided to come over to his kayak and check him out,” shared Henry.
Rupert found himself with a pod of six or seven bottlenose dolphins trailing him, bow riding and splashing. Eventually, the dolphins outpaced the paddlers.
