White-beaked dolphins bring delight to all those onboard fifth research survey!
our fIFTH research expedition of 2023 left ULLAPOOL to monitor the waters off the west coast of scotland on board OUR RESEARCH VESSEL - silurian. FIVE SPECIES OF MARINE MAMMAL WERE recorded and the team was treated to GLORIOUS SUNSHINE. below, the volunteers on board recALL their expedition…
DAY 1
We arrived in Ullapool where the sun was shining - a good omen for the week ahead! Crew Luke, Bruce, Hannah and Nikki greeted us from the pontoons as we made our way down to Silurian, our home for the next 7 days. Skipper Luke expertly navigated out of the busy harbour, and moved to the mooring for the evening where we had a presentation from Hannah; introducing the work of HWDT and the first of our safety briefings.
DAY 2
After a hearty breakfast we spent the morning going from zero to hero, learning dolphin and whale recognition, yacht safety procedures and distance estimation, for which a very accommodating grey seal bottled alongside the boat for us to practise what we do when there is a sighting! Leaving Ullapool, we were quickly ‘on effort’ relaying the numerous creels we passed to the science station below deck.
Passing behind Tanera Mor - one of the Summer Isles - in calm clear conditions, we had sightings of another grey seal, two harbour porpoises and an unidentified cetacean. As we rounded the headland, there was a wee bit of swell but that soon turned to sunshine as we headed under 3 sails to a beautiful anchorage. Looking forward to learning about birds an boats this evening for to include in the survey work tomorrow.
DAY 3
We set sail at 8.30 am this morning for a full day of data collection from Loch an Esign-Brachaidh, surveying into the Minch before running north alongside mainland Scotland, into Loch a’Chadh-fi.
It was an overcast start, with choppy seas and swell reaching 1.5m but we were soon rewarded. We had a couple of early fleeting sightings (that were unidentified) but soon after had a spectacular display of white-beaked dolphins. Breaching between the waves, all of us gathered on the bow. The pod had split with a potential sighting of two Risso’s dolphins as part of one of the pods – what a delight!
We also saw commons and grey seals, alongside many birds including fulmars, puffins, terns, gannets, kittiwakes, guillemots and a great skua. After our stretch into the Minch, we continued to sail north enjoying the spectacular scenery of the mainland. Heading into the loch, a last-minute sighting of two common dolphins near a fish farm took us all by surprise. A perfect end to a lovely day at sea!
DAY 4
Another early start today to make the most of the weather, crossing the Minch to the Outer Hebrides - before we were even ‘on effort’ we’d spotted two common dolphins and a grey seal. This seemed like the start of a full day of sightings. Leaving Loch a’Chadh-fi, it was overcast but mild, the wind was being kind. We had braced ourselves for the worst the Atlantic would throw, but our skipper Luke picked the perfect course. Minimal wind chill, en route for sunshine and great sighting conditions.
Despite the bountiful start to the morning, we were slow to catch a glimpse of any other wildlife beyond birds. But what birds they were – skuas, fulmars catching the wind in spectacular style, puffins, terns, more guillemots than you can shake a stick at, and a much-admired storm petrel. Once the cetaceans appeared we were treated to porpoises-a-plenty, common dolphins, grey seals, a suspected minke whale (traveling at high speed), and a couple of white-beaked dolphins breaching in turn to the joy of all on board Silurian. We had hoped to see more, but survey coverage of this area is relatively low due to the often poor conditions found in the Minch, so it was a privilege to be able to cross to the Outer Isles. As Hannah pointed out, ‘no data is still data’. Now we are anchored off the Isle of Lewis in Loch Mharabhig next to Eil Thoraidh in the company of great people and great wildlife.
DAY 5
Hannah had worked some magic, decorating the saloon with bunting, and organised a surprise card with an excellent drawing of a sperm whale by Nicola for Luke’s big birthday! We were greeted in the morning by a beautiful heron fishing, some friendly seals, and the two-island sheep who welcomed us into our mooring the night before. After waking up to every version of ‘happy birthday’ possible, we fuelled up and set our course back across the Minch via the Shiant bank, with high hopes for sightings!
We had birds galore today - including three cheeky storm petrels off the bow, who put on a great show. We were escorted by fulmars doing circles around us, checking us out. The crew prepared an exemplary second breakfast and lunch to keep everyone going. However, the cetaceans were teasing us with fleeting sightings of porpoise and a speedy whale. The highlight was when we were treated to a curious group of common dolphins who came to Silurian for a fly-by under the bow and into the distance. A dry spell followed for the rest of the day, although the sun, birds and crew kept motivation and morale at a high! We anchored in the shelter of the Summer Isles, near Tanera Beg and did two shore trips on the tender to dry land; allowing people to have a run about ashore or even a dip in the water before birthday celebrations continued with a delicious carrot cake.
DAY 6
It’s our final morning onboard Silurian and we were determined to end on a high! Shortly after leaving our anchorage at the Summer Isles in almost glassy conditions, our first sighting of the morning - a harbour porpoise - was called from the mast. Spirits were high - the conditions were perfect for spotting!
Edging out into deeper water, we were trying our luck with the final few hours of survey for an epic spot. Another harbour porpoise was encountered before those in the science station started to hear faint whistles on the hydrophone - dolphins!! As anticipation increased, soon enough, Nicola shouted sighting from the mast as a pod of dolphins were sighted ahead. The common dolphins swam right under and alongside Silurian before shooting off into the distance, much like our previous encounters.
As we started to head back towards Ullapool, passing the south of the Summer Isles, there were lots of big splashes closer to shore. This time we encountered even more common dolphins, at least 25, all around Silurian breaching, leaping, and bow riding. This was the epic sighting we had been waiting for! Everyone onboard was thrilled, with some having the total experience hearing vocalisations whilst viewing their behaviour.
After much excitement, we continued back towards Ullapool and spotted our 3rd harbour porpoise, a grey seal and plenty of creels (86 to be exact). This afternoon we’ll be giving some love back to Silurian by giving her a deep clean and tidy and then we’ll be heading ashore for showers and an end-of-survey meal to celebrate our amazing week at sea.
Across 5 days, the group surveyed 205 miles of Hebridean waters encountering 5 different species of marine mammals, collecting 33.5 hours of acoustic and visual data.
