Silurian battles through storms on our latest acoustic expedition

OUR RESEARCH VESSEL, SILURIAN, BATTLED THROUGH STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY SHOWERS ON OUR LATEST ACOUSTIC SURVEY. OUR SCIENCE OFFICER BECKY TELLS US MORE HERE…

After an extended period of settled weather, things took a turn in September, with calm seas replaced by turbulent waters. We departed on our latest expedition on the 25th of September and sailed north, rounding Ardnamurchan point, before sailing up the Sound of Sleat in rather choppy conditions. We were also met by some dramatic skies, with huge cumulus clouds passing through and a dramatic sunset as we as we dropped the anchor. The winds continued to build the next day as we sailed through Kyle Rhea and under the Skye bridge. That afternoon as we made our way up the Sound of Rassay, we had gusts of up to 58 knots, just six knots short of hurricane winds! Safe to say we were very grateful to lower the anchor that evening, knowing that the winds were predicted to lessen through the night, and that we might even see some sunshine the next day!

We were indeed greeted to calmer conditions the next morning and we decided to continue north and survey the some of the southern Minch. It wasn’t long before we began to hear whistles on the hydrophone, which became steadily louder as we got closer to the north east tip of Skye. We then spotted splashes in the distance as common dolphins began swimming towards us. That morning we encountered four groups of dolphins in total, all of which swam over to the vessel to bow ride. We also observed lots of acrobatic behaviour including leaps, tail and side slaps, as well as some sexual activity, with individuals seen belly to belly.

After an action-packed morning, the wind picked up again in the afternoon and we decided to take shelter in Loch Torridon. The next day, we were greeted by more rain showers but also incredibly vivid rainbows as we made our way out of Loch Torridon. We had a wild sail back over to the Isle of Skye, encountering a large swell numerous rain showers, before anchoring in Staffin Bay that evening . We finally saw some sunshine the following day and we had a beautiful sail along the northern coastline of Skye, before we began to make our way back down south, with more storms predicted for the coming days. After anchoring in Plockton, we sailed back through Kyle Rhea, this time with up to 55 knot winds! We sheltered in Isle Ornsay that evening and the next day, completing some maintenance jobs and catching up with some data analysis. Even though we STILL had stormy conditions the next day we continued south, crossing over to the Isle of Muck, where we spent a beautiful evening once the storm had passed.

Our plan the next day was to sail east and make our way to the east coast of Mull. Unfortunately, we encountered some engine problems and had to sail back into Tobermory instead. The issue was resolved the following morning, so we set sail once more, heading down the sound of Mull before surveying Loch Linnhe. On the final day of the survey, we awoke to a beautiful sunrise, with the whole sky painted orange and pink! It was a wonderful way to finish the survey and we sailed back into Tobermory with a huge sense of accomplishment. The Hebrides had thrown everything it could at us this expedition, but we still managed to cover 330 nm, collecting over 60 hours of acoustic recordings. We also recorded four species of marine mammals including harbour porpoises, common dolphins, minke whales and grey seals.

Tracklines showing where Silurian travelled on our latest survey

THANKS TO NATURESCOT WHO HELP FUND THE DATA COLLECTION PROGRAM ABOARD SILURIAN.

FEELING INSPIRED TO GET INVOLVED WITH OUR MARINE CONSERVATION EFFORTS? THE 2022 ARE NOW LIVE! JOIN US ON BOARD FOR YOUR CHANCE TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR RESEARCH AND ENCOUNTER SOME OF THE AMAZING WILDLIFE WE HAVE IN OUR WATERS. LIMITED SPACES REMAINING!