Curious minke whales welcome Hannah to the team!
Common dolphin selfie!
Every summer HWDT’s programmes and activities are supported by dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers. Without their contributions we simply couldn’t undertake as much as we do.
This season, our team has joined Tobermory-based tour operator, Sea Life Surveys, to assist with securing images for Photo Identification (Photo ID) analysis. Whales and dolphins have unique dorsal fins and, through photographs taken during encounters, we can match the fins to individuals in our catalogues - helping build a better understanding of population size, range and social interactions.
One of our 2019 volunteers, Hannah Lightley, shares her account of her first trip out with Sea Life Surveys…
At the start of June I went out with Sea Life Surveys on one of their seven-hour whale watching trips to try and spot some wildlife. As my first boat trip of the season, I was super eager and excited to get out and spot some cetaceans and seabirds! Heading out of Tobermory into the Sound of Mull, we spotted our first marine bird - the White-tailed eagle, also known as the sea eagle. This majestic creature was perched on the trees within Ardmore Forest and was a great first spot.
As we headed further into the Sound of Mull, closer to Ardnamurchan - the furthest westerly point on mainland Britain - we entered prime minke whale spotting ground! With evidence collected by HWDT, this area has been recognised as an important feeding ground for minke whales that are here seasonally during the summer.
Sure enough, we spotted our first minke in the distance and headed further out! Soon we had the minke associating with the boat which was incredible, coming underneath showing its white underside and surfacing right next to the boat as if it were checking us out! We then had a second animal approach the boat and had two associating minkes with us for over 45mins - just incredible!
After the most amazing association we headed further offshore on the look for common dolphins. On our way we had an excellent spot of three harbour porpoise with lots of white water in the distance, usually a tell tale sign for dolphins. As very social and charismatic mammals, we had a pod of over 85 common dolphins bow-riding, breaching and swimming alongside the boat, putting on the most incredible displays - as my first time encountering common dolphins this was spectacular!
We headed further towards Tiree and Coll when were approached again by two minke whales - this time an adult and suspected calf! We again had some incredible associations with the boat in particular the calf was incredibly inquisitive! Not expecting the day to get any better, we began to head back to Tobermory when all of a sudden James (the skipper) slammed on the breaks near Glengorm - we had a pod of bottlenose dolphins! As my dissertation topic species, encountering these on my first survey was very emotional and was an absolutely amazing way to round off a spectacular day, having encountered four different cetacean species in the Hebrides.