A man aiming to swim round the entire coastline of the island spent his first day accompanied by seals.

Michael Davis, from London, but with strong Manx roots, is swimming round the island to raise money for Manx Wildlife Trust and Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE).

He launched his swim from the Point of Ayre on Monday where he had a taste of the watery friends he was to make.

He said in his blog: ’A grey back broke the surface, glistened momentarily in the first burst of sun since my arrival and then sank again.’

Michael added: ’After 15 minutes or so of chuntering along, I realised that the flashes of movement I was seeing as I breathed on the seaward side weren’t my fetching orange tow float, but the sealâ?¦ and its many chums.

’Over the next two hours, I was accompanied by this group of about 10 of these clearly very easily entertained seals.’

The seals followed him for about two hours, at some times grabbing his ankles and legs which he said was sometimes a bit concerning, but was ’a bit like someone enjoying a lovely hug’.

’I soon realised that most of them were a fairly polite bunch and the touchy feely stuff was the preserve of two smaller seals’, he said.

Michael came to the island regularly as a child, but since his grandfather died about 20 years ago he’s only been here ’a handful of times’.

He added: ’I’d like to get to know the Isle of Man better.

’It is where my mother and that side of my family, going back more than 500 years, are from.

’A shorter description might be of the swim as classic mid-life crisis/personal vanity project.’

Michael said he was only able to take on the challenge thanks to the ’tolerance’ of his wife and kids and the support of his long term employer who granted a month’s paid sabbatical.

Michael’s two charities both work to monitor marine animals and promoting healthy seas and oceans with Blue Marine Foundations focussed on similar projects such as combatting overfishing by creating marine reserves, establishing new models of sustainable fishing and restoring marine habitats.

He aims to complete his challenge of navigating the island’s coastline in ’20 something days’.

Follow Michael’s swim on his blog at https://isleofmanswim.home.blog/. And to donate to either charity, visit https://www.justgiving.com/teams/IsleofManSwim.