Dolphins and seals dominated fourteenth research survey…
The team on the fourteenth research expedition of the season encountered common dolphins, minke whales and white-beaked dolphins on their nine-day trip from Tobermory. Read all about their experiences here…
DAY 1
After a friendly greeting our expedition team boarded Silurian which was moored in Tobermory, and moved into our cabins. We shared a delicious meal and got to know each other before our initial research briefing. Jenny's briefing was fascinating and everyone made sure it was full of interesting tangents! Excited but tired we headed to sleep.
DAY 2
We woke up to a lovely sunny morning in Tobermory before having a nice big breakfast. We then learned how we will conduct the visual and acoustic sampling, before getting kitted up for a safety briefing on the deck. While up there we also got a bit of distance sampling and shouting loudly training. We set off up the Sound of Mull, spotting many creels and common dolphins on our way to Canna. As I'm writing this the team are now about to face the cheese of death (camambert cheese starter).
DAY 3
Oh my goodness, what a day for us aboard the good boat Silurian. After raising the anchor (along with an unplanned small crab which we quickly returned to the water!), we sailed away from a mystically mist covered Canna and our transect plan was to Loch Snizort, Skye. We'd expected calmer seas but we still sighted two groups of common dolphins with their gorgeous hour-glass markings. In fact, between them we saw approximately 27! Just as we were sailing up the Loch and on the verge of coming off duty a minke whale popped up - almost right next to the boat. Part of our science protocol is to come off the transect and reposition ourselves to take pictures for Photo ID which formally confirms our sighted species. After 10 mins and several more glimpses it dived and we left the area and our minke whale to get on with its day. What created the greatest happiness was that this was a 'my first ever whale' experience for one of our volunteers!
DAY 4
Woke up to slight rain today which cleared as we tucked into breakfast. Soon after we headed out of our lovely anchorage and were 'on effort' spotting 2 harbour porpoises almost immediately. Quite a bouncy day on the waves with some intense wind which made things more fun! We spotted many groups of common dolphins across the day, both bowriding and leaping. One group were leaping so high each splash was accompanied by a chorus of "weeeeeeeeee" from the crew and it almost looked like they were showing off. Lots of birds around today, watching the Gannets diving was definitely a highlight. Heading into anchorage now where we'll be able to stretch our legs and explore, once we've eaten the delicious cheese board that is currently being assembled.
DAY 5
We awoke in our silent harbour at North Uist, and waved good morning to the local creel fishermen as they passed. After breakfast we made way quickly back out into the Sea of the Hebrides, bound for Barra. The weather today is glorious but the glare and sea conditions make spotting more difficult. Still, everyone is in good spirits. We managed to spot some grey seals and common dolphins along the journey, and at calm points some of the team went up into the crows nest for the lovely views. Late afternoon we turned west, across the wind. Sails were up and we were carried across the sea towards the Sound of Barra, where we would hopefully have a swim and anchor for the night!
DAY 6
The sun was warm on our faces this morning and the sea was classic mirror calm with a promise of harbour porpoises hovering in our thoughts. In fact it was just before the end of our effort in the Sound of Mingulay that we saw our harbour porpoise of the day. Instead, as we headed out to the rolling Atlantic side of the Outer Hebrides, our first hour was frantic because there were so many lobster fishermen's creels to record. We also saw a number of grey seals in the water but the real treat today, was seeing the famously huge haul-out of grey seals on the Mingulay beach. Nearby, bird lovers were able to enjoy the hundreds of fulmars who colonise the cliffs plus five soaring sea eagles plus.....a puffin! This solitary solemn-faced puffin floated calmly past us, causing as much excitement as if it had been a dolphin. We dropped anchor at 17:00 hrs at Pabbay and our evening briefing was augmented with a boat-made chocolate orange cake and teas all round. The sandy beach with its ruined croft house and two resident seals was a joy for a walk and a swim in the bright Hebridean Sea. That night, the stars and the milky way were very bright and over the side of Silurian, we saw the most glorious almost ethereal bioluminescence thanks to the luminous species of plankton in the water.
DAY 7
Waking up to another calm and blue skyed morning seemed almost to good to be true but it stayed clear all day. We headed out of our lovely bay leaving the judgy seals behind, and many of us took trips up to the crows nest or sat right on the bow enjoying the views and rhythm of the boat. And then started a day of numerous sightings, we were obviously in the right place at the right time. We saw 2 different sets of common dolphins Bow riding and leaping, the water had only small wavlets so we had very clear views of them and they stayed with us for a while. Shortly after, Richard spotted our second minke whale of the trip. We did get some photos however it didn't stay around for too long. We then saw white beaked dolphins who were a lot more sinister than the common dolphins but amazing to see. And finally even more common dolphins as a large pod surrounded us.
DAY 8
A beautiful sunrise signalled the final morning of our survey. We headed out of Gunna Sound in to blustery winds and large seas. Fleeting common dolphins joined us in the haze as we travelled up the west side of Coll towards Tobermory.
The sun broke through the clouds and we finished our journey with excellent harbour porpoise encounters in the sunshine.
We cleaned Silurian ready for the next survey and ate a chippy tea on board, enjoying our final night together.
Across the week, the group surveyed nautical 532 km of Hebridean seas, recording six species of marine mammal plus Atlantic blue-fin tuna!
A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR TEAM OF CITIZEN SCIENTISTS WHO JOINED THIS EXPEDITION: RICHARD, ROHAN, FIONA, KATIE, JANE AND DEL.