“See you on Silurian when I'm 16!”
Our popular floating classroom school visits provide primary school children the opportunity to jump aboard our research vessel, Silurian, experiencing what it’s like to live and work as a marine mammal scientist.
“So inspiring for children and adults to learn about the science of the seas, boat life and about caring for our wildlife. Such a unique and beneficial experience.”
Stormy seas resulted in a change of plan for the HWDT team crossing to Barra, resulting in them waiting out the storm in Tobermory. While they waited, they celebrated Andy, a dedicated long term volunteer, turning 70 with a delicious soup and seaweed scone lunch, scrumptious carrot and walnut cake, and a nice cheeseboard spread with crisps and dip. Thank you Andy for the decades of volunteering and support for our education work.
From L-R: Sadie (Science Officer), Nici (Education Volunteer), Andy (Education Volunteer), Emma (Boat Manager), Stuart (Skipper) and Zoë (First Mate)
When the storm passed, the team set sail to Castlebay on Barra, their first destination of the week. When the unique castle, built on its very own island in the bay, was within sight the team started preparing Silurian, for the first open boat of the week.
Eighteen people from the local community, including some school children, came aboard to explore the vessel, find out about the research conducted onboard and learn more about the work of the Trust.
With spirits high and a busy week ahead, the team prepared themselves and the boat to welcome over 100 children and teachers aboard Silurian, before heading out to explore Castlebay.
The team were excited for the first day of school visits, finally able to welcome aboard pupils from Bun-Sgoil Eòligearraidh and Bun-sgoil Bhàgh a’ Chaisteil. With lots of activities to take part in during their time on Silurian, many pupils particularly enjoyed exploring the boat, discovering what it was like to live and work aboard a research yacht, and the important role of the skipper.
“ I want to be the skipper! I loved looking at all his charts. They are so detailed. He records so much in his logbook!”
“I learnt that I had to turn the helm 14 times”
“I liked seeing the dots on the computer seeing how you come from Tobermory to Barra.”
“I don’t want to be the skipper. That is way too much responsibility.”
The team even had a familiar face during one of the school visits, as one child who had visited with her family during the open boat, arrived with her class. Impressing the team with her memory of some of the fun facts she’d been told the previous day.
“I memorised all the sizes of the baleen whales from coming on the boat yesterday. Quiz me, quiz me! Blue, fin, sei, brydes, minke.”
With day 1 complete, the crew quickly got the boat ready to once again set sail, this time heading to Lochboisdale, South Uist, where they would stay for the next 3 days, welcoming Sgoil Dhalabroig , Sgoil an Iochdair and Sgoil Bhaile a' Mhanaich.
As they left Castlebay, the team were keen to try and spot the ‘Barra Boys’ - the local resident pod of bottlenose dolphins. Luckily, as they were passing the marker bouys, Skipper Stuart, spotted the lone dorsal fin of a bottlenose dolphin not far from the boat. Most excitingly, Stuart suspected it may have been the same dolphin he saw in a similar area back in 2022. The team are excited to see if we can get a match!
The first school visits in Lochboisdale consisted of pupils from Daliburgh school. After the safety brief, they were set the challenge of exploring the boat, using their Gaelic scavenger hunt sheets to find specific items onboard. Even more of a challenge was the silent quiz at the end, where Science Officer, Sadie, challenged everyone by trying to say the words in Gaelic, with the pupils having to decipher what she was trying to pronounce!
“The children had lots of fun and were fully engaged throughout. They learnt lots of new words, english and gaelic””
They were then split into two groups to learn more about the science which is undertaken onboard. With one group on deck with Education Volunteers, Andy and Nici, learning how we watch for whales and dolphins.
Our most important member of the team, Paddy, took to the stage with First Mate, Zoë, giving the pupils a sighting to call out in amongst their amusement of an inflatable porpoise being danced around the pontoons.
Many of the pupils enjoyed their visit so much they wanted to come back to volunteer or even take on Sadie’s job as science officer!
“ I liked it when Sadie said I could take over her job.”
“I know what I want to do for my 16th birthday. See you on Silurian when I’m 16!”
“I enjoyed the screaming, I had to shout sighting then what animals it was, then the degrees, then the distance”
“Daliburgh children came back and said they it was amazing and they wanted a fake ID so they could come back before they are 16”
The fun didn’t stop after the last school group left, as the team once again opened Silurian up for a community open boat. Although a quieter turn out, future science officer, Rosie, returned with her family to teach her brother all about the research conducted aboard Silurian, explaining how the hydrophone works, what the animals sound like and what the bones are.
“All children were 100% engaged throughout the session. A great learning experience for all involved. So relevent to our island life.”
Thursday consisted of three more sessions, this time with Lochdar School. Below deck at the science station, the pupils discovered why and how whales and dolphins use sound, to communicate and echolocate for hunting and navigation. They also explored why busier and nosier seas can be a challenge for these animals. The best part for the pupils was hearing all the different sounds animals make underwater.
“The seal sound was like a heart beat. I will not forget that a bottlenose dolphin has monkey lips instead of vocal chords to make sounds”
“The seal sounds like the toilet overflowing and the minke whale was like the soundtrack of a scary movie.”
“The science is so interesting to me - the minke whale sounds like footsteps or a heart beat and the orca sounded so different to how I expected”
The last day of school visits, consisted of two groups of pupils from Balinvanich School jumping aboard to learn what it is like to live and work aboard a real whale research yacht. After exploring Silurian, watching out for whales and dolphins, shouting SIGHTING!, listening under the waves and learning how we sail the boat, everyone had something different they enjoyed the most about their visit.
“ I enjoyed how you did the sighting on deck, tie yourself to the mast, shout marine mammal, give degrees, say how far it is”
“I learnt that VHF means very high frequency. I really like doing the sounds, particularly finding out that you had to slow the sound down to hear the porpoise”
“I liked learning that the coastguard was on channel 16 and seeing the different dots of each of the animals you found around Scotland”
“I saw a sighting of a man, 270 degrees, 5 metres. It was Andy!”
“I liked the hydrophone and seeing how it worked”
“I liked learning about the diet of the whales. Sperm whales eat giant squid”
As soon as the last group left, the crew set about getting the boat ready to start their journey back across the Minch to Scavaig on Skye, where they would anchor for the night before the final leg of their journey to Mallaig, where the boat would be prepared for the next research expedition.
On route, the crew deployed the hydrophone and kept a keen eye for any sightings, with glorious conditions. The stunning conditions provided the team with what was their best encounter all season, as a a large pod of common dolphins descended on the boat, bow riding, leaping, whistling and much to everyone’s delight, with several calves joining in all the fun!
What a fantastic way to end a brilliant week of floating classroom visits.
“So much covered in a short space of time. A variety of learning experiences for the pupils and so much brought to life to make the experience even more enjoyable. A fantastic opportunity for our islands. The floating classroom really engaged all the learners and all the crew were so friendly and accommodating to all. Thank you so much! ”
We would like to extend a warm thanks to Castlebay Marina and Lochboisdale Harbour for hosting us.
A big thanks to everyone else who made it possible, including our fantastic crew, Stuart, Zoë, Andy, Nici and Sadie.
