Silurian off the coast of the beautful Isle of Lunga

Every year, we welcome aboard teams of students from St Andrew’s University, Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) to discover how we collect data on board our research vessel, Silurian. Over the course of 10 days, each team spent time travelling to different areas of the west coast, collecting vital visual and acoustic data on marine mammals. Each of the teams share their experiences below…

Team 1: ANJALI, LAURA, ANHELINA, CHRISTOPHER, ALYSSA, ROSIE

DAY 1

We started out on our first day of this amazing field trip by learning the rules for moving safely around the deck, how to enter data into the logging computer and to SHOUT REALLY LOUD if we saw a marine mammal. After that we were off, heading out of Tobermory harbour. We were all given our roles and got to the business of keeping an eye out for birds and fins. Luckily, within the first hour, the people on mast spotted a harbour porpoise which was also ‘heard’ by the data team through the hydrophone.

After leaving the Sound of Mull, we zigzagged our way between the Isle of Coll and the Isle of Mull and were rewarded with sighting a second porpoise. The most common objects we spotted throughout the morning was creel buoys, but come the afternoon, our bird sightings started to pick up and we saw gannets, shags, LOADS of guillemots and some puffins. All of which our group was very excited about, but a little sad we hadn’t seen anymore marine mammals.

As we continued, the sea got a lot choppier and some of the group started to feel the effects. Luckily, we were nearing our mooring for the night - the Treshnish Isles - the closer we got, the more puffins, guillemots and shags we saw. Sadly, we ended the survey effort with no more marine mammals seen but the beautiful scenery partly made up for it.

We ended the day with a trip to shore on Isle of Lunga. The many puffins brought us all much joy! Our short walk culminated with a breeding colony of guillemots that took our breath away!

DAY 2

We awoke off the beautiful Treshnish Isles after a night of being gently rocked to sleep by the rolling sea, such a picturesque setting to start the morning in. After breakfast, we started our second day of survey, but made a quick stop at Fingal’s Cave before continuing our quest for minke whales (and others). This was a specially requested treat for us as we were all eager to visit the cave during our trip to Mull, so it was great to have had experienced it while on Silurian.

Our first marine mammal of the day was a grey seal bobbing in the water, carefully watching us sail by. The overcast day turned spicy when the swell and sea state increased, making sightings more difficult, but enthusiasm was still high. Standing at the mast was quite challenging from then on, and if not for being clipped to the vessel, we would all have perished! This did bring on an extra sense of adventure. We were all ecstatic when some of our volunteers used their positive minke vibes to summon a minke whale. We were all on point while “with whale,” doing our best to lookout for it so the crew could get photos.

We mostly avoided bad weather, except for a wee bit of driech and drizzly weather at the end of the day. Despite these poor conditions, we still spotted two porpoise before finishing the days effort. As a reward at the end of the day, we were treated to delicious banana bread and warm tea. The banana bread was baked with tremendous stamina and heart during very swelly conditions, which made us all appreciate it even more.

Volunteers celebrate their first minke sighting

Once moored for the evening at our second location, we were blessed with sunshine and beautiful island views. The boat was surrounded by rippling waves and frisky terns, it was so idyllic. We went ashore and wandered about sheep and coo pastures on the Isle of Coll. We climbed to a nearby cairn and got spooked by (what we wanted to imagine was) a haunted house. Some volunteers ended the outing with a brisk dip in the Sea of the Hebrides, which definitely revived us after a long day of being on effort. A seal was also spotted at the end of the day, meaning that our day started and ended with the onlooks of a grey seal.

When we arrived back on deck we were presented with our evening meal, almost like we had timed it perfectly, and now we are sat here, with our bellies filled and our hearts filled with adventure writing this blog. The experience so far has been incredible, to have had this opportunity makes us feel so grateful that we are able to see the world and be part of something as positive as this.

P.S. the showers are great.

The team do their best seabird pose to blend in with the seabird colonies of Lunga

Team 1 travelled a total of 97.9 miles between Mull and Coll collecting almost 15 hours of visual and acoustic data.

Team 2: camille, daniel, ella, emily, ellie, george

DAY 1

For our first morning onboard Silurian we awoke to completely blue skies and still seas, perfect sighting conditions! We all sat down for a communal breakfast prepared by the crew and then promptly set out onto the deck for the start of our research adventure. We got off to a good start with a harbour porpoise sighting and bottling grey seals, which filled us with good energy and high hopes for the rest of the day. Lucky for us, our expectations were exceeded, where after numerous grey seal and porpoise encounters, we were greeted by a pod of at least 15 common dolphins.

Just when we thought our day couldn’t get any better, we were blessed with a chorus of “MINKE!” One of our very proud mast observers had spotted a minke whale ahead of us, leading us to go “with whale”. As we excitedly anticipated its sporadic surfacing, we quickly realised that the minke was a mother to a beautiful calf. A significantly important sighting, indicating minke whales may not only come to Scotland to feed, but also to raise their young. The crew set about capturing the essential photo ID images, which also resulted in a beautiful photograph giving us a glimpse of the calf’s adorable face.

After a successful day and 25 sightings later, we reconvened for some hot chocolate and homemade dhal. We then finished our evening with a game of Guess Who and a stroll across Rum Island, encountering an inquisitive stag and exploring the grounds of a spooky castle.

We are so grateful and excited to be here and look forward to taking full advantage of this incredible opportunity.

Successful first day accomplished!

DAY 2

We were greeted with a thick layer of fog and mist this morning making the conditions quite overcast - a stark contrast to the sunny skies yesterday. After breakfast ended, we were underway by 8:30 am. Sightings were a bit slow in the morning and Silurian was also navigating some tricky conditions.

Suddenly, Cami spotted a harbour porpoise which initiated a flurry of sightings, kicking off the afternoon in the best way! Although the clouds and mist persisted, we had several sightings of harbour porpoises and grey seals, without knowing that the best part of our day was yet to come. Two minkes were then spotted within 50 metres of the boat. The team watched them surfacing for a while and then realised that we were surrounded on both sides by four minkes total, two porpoises, and a bottling seal!

Shag and puffin images ©Emily Vierling

Despite the chaos, everyone worked together to gather the important data required by HWDT. After the encounter, we returned to the transect line and continued towards the Treshnish Isles. The conditions became fairer, and we had two more minke sightings, one of which succeeded in evading the crews attempts at getting ID photographs - much to their frustration - but c’est la vie! To make up for it, some of the team thought they saw the other minke perform a feeding strike (lung feeding) as they saw a large swash of white water move across the surface. In total, we saw an estimated 7 minkes today, woo!

After an exciting day on the water, we dropped anchor off the coast of Lunga, a scenic island that we imagine was the hideaway of Luke Skywalker…and inspiration for the Game of Thrones landscape – of course, we don’t know if any of that is true, so take it with a grain of salt. What we do know is that the island is home to a large colony of puffins, some shags, razorbills, terns, and oyster catchers. First things first though, we enjoyed tucking into the delicious banana cake baked earlier by Ellie, and cut horribly by Dan – don’t worry, he was quickly forgiven. Then, it was time for all of us to pile into the dingy and attempt a rocky landing.

Everyone was quite transfixed by the smaller-than-expected puffins. Their vibrant beak, penguin-like colouring, and overall clumsiness gave everyone a soft spot for them. After taking an obscene number of photos and videos, the crew returned to the boat for a delicious lemon risotto prepared by Ellie, Cami, and Dan.

This experience has been AWESOME! We are all so thankful to the crew of Silurian and HWDT for allowing us to come aboard.

Team 2 travelled a total of 104 miles around some of the small isles and down to Coll, collecting over 15 hours of visual and acoustic data.

Team 3: alex, charlie, india, kathryne, madeleine

DAY 1

Today was our first morning waking up on the Silurian and most of us had a surprisingly good nights sleep. Awaking to the sights of Tobermory and raring to start our scientific adventure, we devoured a lovely breakfast courtesy of Sadie (legend). With a quick run down on the data entry and how to use Logger, we took up our positions and began our survey day. The day started off strong with 3 sightings of seals, 2 confirmed to be grey seals and they were bobbing/bopping but actually…they were bottling. We had our eyes, with our binoculars, peeled on the horizon on this beautiful sunny and still day for minkes, porpoises, common dolphins and the infamous….killer whales. But then, things took a turn for the worst. SEA SICKNESS STRUCK. With half our team unable to sit at the computer and taken out by the swell (0.5m), the crew saved us by helping with data input and luckily, we were all feeling tip top shape in no time at all.

The stark lack of fins led to delirium and the rumour mill began to turn. With reports of mystical creatures called reindeers, dogs far too large to be in backpacks and penny whistle players for tribute bands, its safe to say we all had a very giggly afternoon. Along the way we saw a whole host of feathered friends that came to say hi, with colourful puffins chilling in the water, gannets swooping by and sweet little terns brightening our way to the Isle of Eigg.

Once moored up, after a day of no cetaceans but full of fun, we feasted upon a marbled chocolate and marshmallow cake (sans marshmallows for the veggie gang) deliciously made by our one and only Skipper Celia. Learning about the history of Eigg, we then ventured ashore and took a small hike (with a slight detour) we journeyed through the forest flooded with bluebells, over the hillside passages and carefully down the rocky cliffside to a beautiful bay/beach. A few brave souls dared to ventured into the haunted and mysterious Massacre Cave which holds significant value to the island’s history. A narrow opening lead to a vast expanse of a cavernous chamber, barely illuminated by the daylight outside. We headed back along the beautiful path and said goodbye to our sheep friends on the Isle of Eigg. The day came full circle with an opportunistic sighting of two grey seals watching over us on our way back to our temporary home, just in time for dinner cooked by Chef Charlie and Sous-Chef India.

We were feeling very grateful for the gorgeous weather in addition to the good vibes and chuckles, with the time flying by on our first day of sailing, what a lucky bunch we all are.

The team explore Massacre Cave on the Isle of Eigg

DAY 2

Our day began moored off our skipper’s home Island of Eigg in glorious sunshine. Amazingly for Scotland, this sun followed us for the whole day, with fantastic conditions for sightings. Our transects took us along the south side of Rùm and Canna with brief appearances from a lone grey seal and our first minke whale of the trip. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to grab a photo ID for the elusive minke and so we returned to our transect headed for Hyskeir Lighthouse. Plenty of feathered friends accompanied us on the journey, with guillemots, terns, puffins, gannets, shags and kittiwakes all making an appearance. As we approached the lighthouse and the more open waters beyond, splashes were spotted on the horizon. These soon revealed themselves to be common dolphins who showed a clear interest in the boat and headed over to check us out. The group was a good 8-10 animals strong and hung around with us until we reached our turning point at the lighthouse. The island’s residents included dozens of grey seals hauled out or bottling in front of the Silurian and keeping a close eye on us as we passed.

Once through the channel we had our second minke sighting of the day but once again, the whale cottoned on to us and scarpered before we could grab a photo. Our disappointment was short lived however, as a series of fins were spotted 1.5km off the starboard bow. More common dolphins had turned up to keep us company and this time they stayed with us for a while. A group of 20+ dolphins accompanied us for a total of 15 minutes, bow-riding and whistling for all to hear, even without the hydrophone! The encounter more than made up for the relative scarcity in sightings from the previous day. Once we had finished our southward transect, we turned east once more, headed for the Isle of Muck and our anchorage for the evening. The trip was uneventful for the most part, but the gorgeous sun, calm seas and memories of dolphins certainly kept spirits high.

Upon our arrival in Muck, we came ashore for a scenic walk and decompress from the day’s work. A visit to the island’s honesty-based gift shop lead to postcard related arguments, but Laia got over it eventually (I think?) The woolly inhabitants of the island made their presence well known, with sheep grumpily clearing the road and shouting at us as they did so whilst we made our way towards the beautiful white sandy beaches of Muck for photos and relaxation on the rocks in the evening sun. The teams’ animal ID skills really came in to play here as horses were deemed sheep and seals mistaken for tuna by multiple members of the team, perhaps an example of exhaustion taking hold… In any case, fun was had by all and we returned to a wonderful meal of haggis, neeps and tatties and a batch of hot brownies courtesy of the wonderful Alex. All in all, a rather good day.

Team 3 travelled a total of 103.8 miles, around the Airsaig coastline and Hyskeir lighthouse, collecting over 15 hours of visual and acoustic data.

In total the amazing teams from the Sea Mammal Research Unit travelled over 305 miles and collected almost 45 hours of visual and acoustic data.

Thanks to Anjali, Laura, Anhelina, Christopher, Alyssa, Rosie, Camille, Daniel, Ella, Ellie, Emily, George, Alex, Charlie, India, Kathryne and Madeleine, and not forgetting our fantastic crew Celia, Jake, Laia and Sadie, for an amazing survey trip.

THANKS ALSO TO NATURESCOT FOR SUPPORTING THE DATA COLLECTION ON BOARD SILURIAN.

Students treated to dinky minke, bow riding commons and Hebridean sunshine

Team 1: ANJALI, LAURA, ANHELINA, CHRISTOPHER, ALYSSA, ROSIE

Team 2: camille, daniel, ella, emily, ellie, george

Team 3: alex, charlie, india, kathryne, madeleine

Thanks to Anjali, Laura, Anhelina, Christopher, Alyssa, Rosie, Camille, Daniel, Ella, Ellie, Emily, George, Alex, Charlie, India, Kathryne and Madeleine, and not forgetting our fantastic crew Celia, Jake, Laia and Sadie, for an amazing survey trip.