Spring Back into Action: Whale Track Sightings Summary
We want to thank everyone for reporting their sightings to us and continuing to help us learn more about the whales in our waters.
With the start of the season, sighting reports have been flooding in. Boat operators are back up and running, showcasing the wonders of our waters to their guests, visitors are arriving in the hopes of having that awe inspiring wildlife encounter and locals are getting out and about enjoying the beauty that is their home.
This spring we have been blown away by you - our amazing Whale Track community - in sending in your sighting reports. Compared to the spring sightings summary from last year, we’ve had over 60% more reporters, double the number of land-based watches, almost three times more casual reports and three times as many reports with photos, resulting in over 1000 more sighting reports, with a total of 1893 reports of 10044 animals from 12 species. What an incredible effort and it’s only the start of the 2023 season!
So, let’s look at our podium. In my last sightings summary for winter, we had a new species on the podium -with bottlenose dolphins joining harbour porpoise and common dolphins in the top 3 sighted species. Now our podium stands as, harbour porpoise continuing to claim top position (627 sightings of 1673 animals), bottlenose dolphins cling onto second place (463 sightings of 3416 animals) and our ‘summer’ visitors, the minke whales have claimed third place (372 sightings of 513 animals).
*This data has not been analysed or corrected for effort.
BUCKET LIST moments
Basking sharks are on a lot of people’s bucket lists. With almost 50 reports already this spring, it’s great to see that the sighting reports have increased from last year. Although, it’s worth noting an increase in basking shark sightings, doesn’t necessarily corelate with an increase in basking shark numbers - as fish, basking sharks don’t have to surface and could be present lower in the water column.
At the start of May, guests aboard Sealife Mull had a particularly special encounter with the world’s second largest fish, when their skipper decided to cut the engine on spotting a basking shark 300m from the boat. Luckily, the shark decided to swim alongside the boat, providing everyone with a stunning sight of its mouth open wide, as it filter fed on the plankton. An incredible encounter for all onboard.
Killer whales are likely at the very top of many people’s wildlife bucket list. So when you not only get to see a pod of killer whales, but they decide to spy hop and check you out, that is a moment you will never forget.
Guests and crew on board Hebrides Cruises were treated to exactly that, when they were sailing near Barra Head in June (technically outside of my spring summary dates but I had to include it!), when they encountered the 19s pod, including matriarch, Mousa.
The 19s had also been reported through Whale Track back in May by Nat and Ian Ward, up at the tip of Lewis, where they watched ‘the pod split into two, with the male and a couple individuals staying offshore, while the females foraged below the rocks’.
©Nat & Ian Ward
Risso’s dolphin dressed up as a beluga whale
Though it may sound strange, that’s exactly the sight Glen Braithwaite had when they were watching a pod of Risso’s dolphins off the coast of Skye back in April. Obviously not literally dressed as a beluga, but this Risso’s dolphin did a good impersonation with the help of the water distorting the image and a perfectly timed wavelet refracting the head. It definitely had us all scratching our heads for a while. With the help of Glen sending in a series of images taken of the encounter, we could all confirm this was in fact a trick of the eye, and was a Risso’s dolphin with what could be a beautiful youngster swimming alongside it.
This report showcases the importance of not just individual photos, but sequences of images, in helping to identify species and individuals.
You can upload your photos to your sighting report through the photo portal. Simply submit your report, go to it in your account and click ‘upload photos to photo portal’, this will generate a unique link to your email address, where you will find all your reports to upload your images.
©Glen Braithwaite
Humpback heyday
It’s been a busy period for humpback whales recently, with 10 sightings of humpbacks between March and May, increasing to 54 sightings reported by 16 June. With sightings around the Firth of Forth, Aberdeen, Mull, the Clyde, the north coast and Skye, many people have been treated with wonderful views of these incredible animals.
While seeing these animals is incredibly exciting, we must be mindful to avoid disturbing and stressing them. If you are out on a vessel, you can minimise any negative impact by following the guidance.
Are you ready for the Sea Watch Foundation’s National Whale and Dolphin Watch?
NWDW is an annual event run by the Sea Watch Foundation, which helps to gain a snapshot of the whales, dolphins, porpoises, and basking sharks present in UK waters. This year it is running from the 29 July to the 6 August. Your records and watches will generate valuable data, which aids the conservation of these incredible animals.
From 3 July – 4 August, HWDT will be hosting watches from land across Mull, including Glengorm, Tobermory lighthouse, Duart castle and more. Join us to learn more about the whales and dolphins in our waters and help us collect sighting data for this important annual event.
To find out more about NWDW and how you can get involved, join us online for an hours training on Thursday 27 July at 7pm.
To find out more about all of these events, please visit our NWDW events news page.
Shout out to our amazing team of verification volunteers!
In this sighting’s summary, I wanted to include a shout out to our amazing team of verification volunteers, who work hard behind the scenes to verify your reports to ensure the data is robust and able to stand up to the peer review process.
Our team may get in touch with you occasionally to request more details about your reports, this is to help us ensure we can verify the sighting to the highest standard possible. Thank you all for your support and quick responses to the queries.
Thank you to our wonderful Whale Track community for sending in all your sightings and helping us continue to learn more about the whales in our waters.