Spotlight and Me

Well the nice people at the BBC liked my little film on Dolphins so much they wanted to use it on their primetime slot on BBC Southwest Spotlight. Well ever the one to crave attention I heartily agreed.

They asked if I could get to Newquay Airport and record a little voice over piece for them. I went, it rained, I got wet but it was worth it. Mothers some proud!



Lloyd Burnard, BBC Southwest Spotlight

Good Morning...

It's 0654am, I'm asleep, happy in the World of nod when I hear this noise, it sounds like my Mum shouting at me 'LLOYD LLOYD'. I stir but I just think i'm having a nightmare but it creeps in a second time, this time I awake to hear it load and clear 'LLOYD GET UP!'.

I stumble out of my room and Mums screaming 'There's Dolphins hundreds of them, quick get out there!'

With blurry eyes I look out the window straight into a mass of happy go lucky Dolphins, without saying a word I barge past my Mum and Dad and straight to the garage, my camera is clipped and housed within 2 minutes and my wetsuit is on and zipped within 3. Within 6 minutes i'm sprinting full pelt, kayak in tow, down to the beach.

Once there I paddle as fast as my little arms can manage the whole time keeping an eye on the pod of what looks like 30 or 40 Dolphins just playing around. I skim the outside of the pod just letting them work me out and then all of a sudden they're everywhere all around me going nuts and i'm in the middle laughing my tits off!

What a way to start the day!

In between paddling and laughing here's some of what I caught, thanks for waking me up Mum.

The Olive Sea Snake

Wikipedia describes Olive Sea Snakes or Aipysurus Laevis, to use they're latin name, as

'One of the Sea Snakes in the species that are reported to be the most aggressive and the most venomous'

Well i don't know where they got they're facts from but myself and Aaron found them to be pretty inquisitive and cool. Although they have a mighty punch with they're venom, I think it would take a lot to upset the good old Sea Snake.

But don't take my word for it, see for yourself.

When Whales meet

I've been a lucky man recently. Not only have i got some amazing friends out here but they all seem to be into the same thing, all off which are Ocean based.

This particular day started with a plan to Scuba Dive out in the gulf of Exmouth with Clare, Esther, Inday and Dave to see what we could find. I was amped because it's an area renowned for Sharks and other big things and i've wanted to get out to this spot since i got here, with rumours of special moments being had there.

For over 30 minutes we cruised around but saw nothing spectacular and all though it can be amazingly invigorating to be down at depth and taking it all in, i do feel like i need something to share it with and my thoughts were gifted with something extremely rare.

We were graced by not only 2 but 4 male humpback Whales. They cruised in and checked us out and seeing what they liked they hung out with us for ages. We even tried to leave and they followed us, it was an amazing day in the water with all of us just amped with what was happening.

To be so close to such huge Whales and know that they are fully aware of you and what you are doing is something that is truly astonishing. These boys were there to show off and they put on one hell of a show, cruising right at us then diving and rolling right under our feet and thankfully i had my camera rolling the whole time!

When Whales meet from lloyd burnard on Vimeo.

Turtle Touching Time

A few weeks ago I decided to go on an adventure and see if i could find some more Turtles' getting busy as the last footage i got of Turtles mating wasn't great quality.

I know it sounds a little perverted but Turtles getting down and doing the good thing on the wrong foot is quite a spectacular thing to witness as well as very amusing.

It surprises me that they manage to accomplish anything as they seem so out of control and it is always a constant struggle. I'm not sure if it's foreplay but the Female always seems reluctant, typical!

Anyway, i managed to get some amazing footage and thought that if i was a Turtle getting it on i would be grooving to the dulcet tones of Prince, When Doves Cry playing over and over in my head. Always a good one to get anyone in the mood!


Turtle Touching Time from lloyd burnard on Vimeo.

Whaling Around!

Myself, Aaron and Ray were treated to a little show the other day. We were out cruising around in the Gulf on Aarons boat when we spotted a Humpback Whale and her calf just chilling out.

As we cautiously made our way toward them the Mum dived, as they sometimes do, but surprisingly the calf swam over to us to check us out and started showing off. Kids, they never do as they're told!

Mum was happy enough, she just stayed underneath our boat taking it all in and keeping an eye on us, she was probably happy we were baby sitting for awhile so she could have a rest.

We were going to get in the water and really experience it but my past experiences with Humpback Mums has taught me to keep away from their Children! Have a look at one of my previous posts for more on that, Whale Fish!



Whaling Around! from lloyd burnard on Vimeo.

For more footage of the amazing Marine life around Exmouth have a look at another previous post, Liquid Life.

Nesting Turtles

Exmouth is one amazing place the last few nights have brought an amazing full Moon that was an awesome sight but not the only spectacular thing happening.

Along with the full Moon the local Turtles all make the mad rush up the West side beaches to lay their eggs. A few of us went down to check it out, the rules are pretty strict about how you act around them.

I know what your all thinking but no, your not allowed to ride them. Although my mate Jake really wanted to and it took a lot of convincing to stop him!

Some days...

I just managed to grab some footage of two of the smaller sessions out here last week, i scored it pretty good but on the pumping days you'll be hard pushed to find anyone to sit in the channel and film when it's 6ft and clean, so although nothing spectacular these two sessions were a lot of fun just hanging with good people all just enjoying life and amped about being out there.

Some days... from lloyd burnard on Vimeo.

Catching some Rays...

Just hanging out with my man Ray, he even let me stroke him, what a cool dude!

Catching some Rays from lloyd burnard on Vimeo.

Turtle love

Whilst bathing in the Sun yesterday with Katy and Dan, Dan noticed something rather odd happening a little further down the beach. It turned out to be three Turtles getting busy, we waded out and stood right next to them and perved at this amazingly strrange courtship, to be honest it wasn't as beautiful as it sounds, it was a full on gang rape. The two Males were harassing the poor Female with one underneath to push her up and the other on top, they even swapped over so they could both get their end away. I had heard that when turtles mate it's pretty brutal but it had to be seen to be believed.

I swear at one point the Female looked at us and you could see it in her eyes that she wanted help and in any other circumstances i would have dived right in to help a maiden in distress but i was to busy filming the whole sordid affair to split them up, plus i think some eco warriors would be upset about that i've probably gained a hate squad for what i did to the humpback.

Unfortunately i only had my stills camera so the quality isn't amazing but it was an experience i won't forget in a hurry.

Whale fish...

Exmouth Gulf, no surf and glorious weather makes for a day on the water looking for adventure. This is what happens when you chance across a Humpback Whale and it's calf, she didn't appreciate me getting to close and charged at me whilst trying to whack me with her side dorsal fin, after some swift backing off she reverted to a full on tail swipe. It's obvious how close it gets but man, you should have felt the power from that tail and the speed at which it moved was immense.

One awe inspiring moment, that is what it's all about!

Whale fish from lloyd burnard on Vimeo.

Photo, Dan Waite

Liquid Life

Since being here I have seen some pretty amazing things. The Indian Ocean that cradles the Exmouth Peninsula is teeming with a huge variety of marine life. Here's just a small sample of what i've seen, enjoy.

Liquid Life from lloyd burnard on Vimeo.

A little bit of this and a bit more of that...

I finally got round to making a little clip of us boys surfing the other day, this is a break near to where i am, but i best not mention it's name. My camera was playing up a bit, unfortunately it kept focusing on a dot of dirt on the inside of the water proof housing, very annoying as it missed most of the good waves, mainly and typically the ones i caught! But here it is anyway.

Thanks for Dan for getting out and doing a bit of filming, it's a bit shaky but he had drank 3 red bulls before going in.

Surfers include, amongst others Finny (1:56), Little Scotty, myself (2:32) and Taj.