Llyn Peninsula, Trefor Sea Stacks and Bioluminescent Plankton!
A friend and I decided to beat the bank holiday crowds and head for a day out in North Wales. We decided to do a hike on some smaller hills on the Llyn Peninsula; Yr Eifl, Mynydd y Gwaith and Tre’r Ceiri. These are are a small set of hills right by the coast, providing spectacular views on a clear day. Mud and routes has this down as a moderate walk, and the details of the route can be found here. I found the postcode didn’t take me to the free car park, but here is a google pin of the parking.
It was around 3pm when we set off, and despite the heat it was a good walk out, just shy of 5 miles. Mynydd y Gwaith had the best views as it was so close to the ocean looking down onto Trefor, and there are plenty of interesting quarrying remains all over the hillside. Then it was next on to Yr Eifl, where we were treated to more amazing views. On the next summit are the remains of a hill fort and a gentle walk back down to the car park. We must of only seen 5 people the full walk!
We next decided on heading to Trefor Sea Stacks for sunset. This really is a beautiful location, and although the sunset wasn’t as spectacular as we hoped it was still a lovely evening and I managed to get a beautiful shot of the sea stacks. This was my first visit at sunset- and the first time I was able to get my drone out. Every time I have been before it was too windy and I wasn’t brave enough to risk it- I am looking forward to editing the footage! We then walked back to the car park and made a coffee, chatting away as we stared out to sea, and spotted a few bats flying round.
I had also heard that the elusive bioluminescent plankton had recently been spotted at Penmon Point lighthouse- so that was our final stop. As it was a bank holiday weekend, the car park was full of camper vans. There were a few people on the beach, and I wondered if they were here for the same thing? We set up our camping chairs and watched and waited, but nothing happened.
I actually went chatting to two people who were set up, and they said they had seen bits of the plankton. They stomped around in the stones by the edge of the water, and sure enough, there it was! Some unmistakable glowing plankton! We moved our things over and started shooting, and were lucky enough to see bits in the water and a few sparkles as the waves crashed into the rocks. It was so exiting! I took so many shots, but on my small LCD screen I couldn’t see that I had picked it up-until I looked at the images and realised I had actually caught some specks!
You may have to study this image closely to spot the plankton, and in the spirit of transparency this image is two in one. The image I caught the plankton in was quite boring as it was just the sea and also some tripod legs, so I took one of my lighthouse shots, added the plankton image and masked out the plankton so the image is a bit more interesting and pleasing to look at.
I was stoked to see it for the first time, and I am looking forward to hopefully getting some better shots of the bioluminescent plankton this summer!