White-beaked dolphins recorded at the northern reach of study area
THE TEAM JOINING our Seventh research expedition left ULLAPOOL to monitor the waters off the west coast of scotland. six SPECIES OF MARINE MAMMAL WERE recorded and the team reached the most northern point of our research area. the team recall their experience below…
DAY 1
Have you ever dreamt of stepping into a completely different environment and trying on a new lifestyle for size (and we don't just mean the foulies)?? Embarking the Silurian today no one anticipated what a rapid transition lay ahead and that we would need to master (drum roll please Jenny:): cabin etiquette, cetacean identification, exact survey procedure, nautical dresscodes, a hand pump seawater toilet and safety tethering at sea. We’re all excited for what lies ahead!
DAY 2
At the end of the first day we find ourselves happily windswept, with strained cores and quads, and awed by the wild beauty of the Outer Hebrides and the force of sea state 4 in the Minch. Our highlights have been our passage through Creel alley, harbour porpoise and three separate common dolphin sightings with aerial displays from storm petrels, fulmars, razorbills, puffins, black gillimots, Manx shearwater and a tern. All this and Charlie's vegan lemon cake. Roll on tomorrow.
DAY 3
Raised anchor at 8.50am, on effort for 9.10am, beginning to work together like a well oiled machine. People who were strangers less than 2 days ago, are now still strange but we know them a lot better.
3 visual sightings of dolphins made all the day's experience even more enjoyable. Lots of birds, including being stalked by a skua. The afternoon brought some choppier waters and bigger swells, but who couldn't have a fabulous time when standing at mast, bow riding just like dolphins - with seaspray in your face!
Need to write a short blog, as the hardier (or more foolish) amongst us are just about to jump on the tender for a shore visit and the opportunity to swim in the balmy sub tropical waters of Broad Bay, Isle of Lewis.
But never fear, it's an amazing pasta bake dinner I hear, which will warm the cockles of our heart to set us up for another amazing day on Silurian tomorrow!
DAY 4
The intrepid crew have traversed the north Minch again! Sunday started with a sailing lesson in Broad Bay, Lewis - you should have seen our faces as Silurian heeled steeply into the choppy sea state 4 waves. Its true what they say about the weather at sea being changeable - one minute calm, sunny, the next heavy rain, lively seas and both hands holding on tight.
The observation at mast was full of anticipation and suspense; despite intense concentration, persistence and hope unfortunately our cetacean sightings equalled the marine debris count (three of each). The sea settled beautifully as we sailed into Kinlochbervie Bay- where we sit typing in becalmed waters, eating our haggis, neeps and tatties as the sun sets over the hills. And we even went on the rib for a quick trip to the local pub - thanks Jake!
DAY 5
Day 5 was a day of highs. We breakfasted by Kinlochbervie, under the watchful eye of a grey seal on a nearby rock. As we moved out to sea, two white tailed sea eagles wheeled and soared above the headland to starboard (get a load of our nautical vocabulary there). Could this be a portent of a good day for sightings?
We continued on our northwesterly transect, with Cape Wrath behind to the east, reaching the most northerly point of Silurian's survey expeditions for 2023. We'd already had a hint that Fate was on our side, as our shipmate Gina had had a dream last night of seeing 10 dark fins in the water. And who should we meet as we neared that most northerly point, out in the open ocean north of Lewis, but a pod of white-beaked dolphins (min 6, max 12, likely 10, as logged by our science officer Jenny)!
After this, our spirits weren't lowered by our first bout of proper rain. Standing on look-out by the mast, tethered securely to the pitching deck, was wet but a fun ride. Turning towards the mainland again, the toughest job was recording the seabirds as we neared the sanctuary island of Handa. This is where we're now anchored; we've had a dip on a glorious deserted sandy beach and a rare opportunity to explore an island unmarked by the heavy footstep of human habitation. As we returned to a fajita feast prepared by the crew, we were stunned by a double rainbow spilling intense colours over the cliffs. And now, after a hi-five Day 5, we're listening back to Jenny's recordings of our dolphins' clicks.
DAY 6
Sailed out from Handa island with a full tummy from breakfast. It was quiet for the first 5 min or so, and we should have been grateful for that as once we had passed the island it was like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds! The scary part was trying to count the birds, with bazaars of Guillemots flying by incessantly, resulting in counts of 600 birds in a 30 min stint on relay. It made the next rotation (on mast) something to look forward to despite the rain. Second breakfast - rolls with egg, avocado and (for the carnivores) bacon was enough to make you forget your wet wellies and soaking feet.
Sightings started promptly, with harbour porpoise popping up to say hello in the first hour. Common dolphins came out to bid farewell as we ended our survey for the day.
Anchored for the evening in Loch Roe, where we had the company of 13 common seals as we prepared for supper and an evening surrounded by magnificent west coast of Scotland scenery.
No swim tonight as weather a bit dreich, but the games are about to start, so that's the blog fini......
DAY 7
We set off promptly this morning observed nonchalantly by a bob of common seals, comprising about a dozen individuals including a few pups. A grey sky and predicted showers turned out to be a fair to sunny day, with one of our number sporting a celtic tan before too long.
Our nautical skills are now increasingly well honed. Not only can we walk around the deck without looking like a shambolic herd of drunk giraffe, we even managed to eat 'second breakfast' runny egg rolls at mast without yolking up the binoculars. The half hourly rotations are second nature, a familiarity and capability we wouldn't have believed on day one that we would achieve, including recognising qdolphin whistles on the hydophone).
Sightings started slowly, but once we were in the middle of the Minch we were rewarded with a multitude of species - common dolphins with a pair of very new calves, little auks (Jenny's favourite sighting of the day, up until she saw the tall blow of an unidentified whale on the horizon), several Minke whales being somewhat elusive, and finishing off the day with bow riding common dolphins and a harbour porpoise.
The day was rounded off by the ever calm Charlie expertly instructing several of us to climb the mast to the crow's nest for spectacular views, and descending to amazing smells of curry and chocolate chip cookies.
DAY 8
Our final morning on survey was showery but beautiful. We sailed through the Summer Isles, recording arbour porpoise and creels before exploring the sea lochs of Grunard and Little Loch Broom. A rainbow appeared as we sailed back in to Ullapool, ready to pour some love back in to Silurian.
We celebrated a brilliant week with excellent people over a meal together, sharing stories and a final game of pass the pigs.
Across 9 days, the group surveyed 270 miles of Hebridean waters encountering 6 different species of marine mammals.
