HWDT has launched a new way for businesses to help secure the future of western Scotland’s cetaceans, and to protect the Hebrides’ globally important marine environment, with its first Corporate Partner being The Majestic Line
The season got off to an amazing start with some incredible sightings flying in through Whale Track during April, and our first ever sightings submitted from an aircraft during an aerial whale-watch!
Individuals, communities and businesses are being asked to contribute ideas for top sites for spotting whales, dolphins and porpoises from land on Scotland’s west coast, to help create a Hebridean Whale Trail that will be the first of its kind in the UK.
During the survey we covered 205 nautical miles, spending over 27 hours looking for marine megafauna. We recorded four different species including an incredible encounter with the Inner Hebridean population of bottlenose dolphins, who are resident to our survey area.
Tomorrow, the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust’s research yacht, Silurian, will set sail on an ambitious tour of Hebridean islands, making special visits to six local primary schools visiting some for the first time in a decade.
Our second monitoring survey of the season was scheduled to coincide with the biannual Joint Warrior exercise to help understand the impact that these activities may have on cetaceans across the Hebrides.
HWDT were lucky enough to host two highly enthusiastic students on work placements from the Marine and Coastal Tourism degree course that is run from UHI West Highland College in Fort William. The students helped deliver our community engagement and citizen science programmes, and gained valuable workplace experience for their future careers.
Our first Silurian survey of the season kicked off last weekend with the arrival of our team of enthusiastic volunteer citizen scientists arriving in Tobermory from all over the UK (and one from Switzerland!).
Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust has announced details of its 2018 surveys, in which volunteers and marine scientists will carry out pioneering research into the health of whales, dolphins and porpoises off Scotland’s west coast using photogrammetry – the science of making measurements from photographs.
HWDT are delighted to announce that over the next few weeks, we have partnered with CuanTec, a biotechnology company based in Scotland, in a crowdfunding campaign to fight plastic pollution.
Despite the snowy skies and blustery winds, it’s not long now until Spring, and that can only mean one thing here at HWDT, and that’s the start of our survey season. We’re incredibly excited this year for our early season Joint Warrior survey, which has been successfully running since 2009.