Bumpy seas and bow riding dolphins on second Teen Trip of 2022

Our second Teen Trip of the year circumnavigated Mull, calling in overnight at Colonsay and Coll. Below the teens recount their experience of their time spent on board Silurian surveying Hebridean Seas.

Day 1 & 2 (Sadie, Science Officer)

The trip began as always with the team being introduced to the work of the Trust before being trained in whale, dolphin and porpoise (collectively known as cetaceans) ID, survey protocol and a good round of shouting ‘SIGHTING’ at each other out on deck.

With the weather set to be poor and the sea conditions predicted as being unfavourable for surveying, the team decided to postpone for the day and enjoy some of the opportunities Tobermory had to offer. After the final bit of training on birds and boats, the team set out for a walk to Tobermory Lighthouse, however en route, Lyndsey from Tobermory Bay Tours generously offered to take the teens out for a trip around the bay. Putting their ID skills to the test, the teens were able to identify the different birds they saw, along with the common seals hauled out on Calve Island.

Even more excitingly, they got first hand experience of creel pots (one of the things we record during our surveys), getting the chance to pull one up and see what was inside - starfish and crabs!

Thanks so much Lyndsey!

Back on board, some of the teens set out on cooking dinner, while Katie decided to treat us to her amazing baking skills, baking a lemon drizzle cake for dessert. YUM!

Day 3: (Howie)

While sitting round the breakfast table, the crew and volunteers hoped that they would see a dolphin of some type. Well, our hopes came true! We saw 10 common dolphins, some porpoises, along with a couple of seals. The first group of dolphins (about 3-4) were spotted in 15 minutes from setting off from Tobermory harbour. As you could tell, we were very excited and lucky to spot the animals we hoped for…

Lucy was very lucky and spotted some dolphins and porpoises while standing at the mast, with some of the dolphins leaping out of the water right next to the boat! Howie was next to her and they both thought the moment was exhilarating. While Howie and Lucy saw the dolphins from the mast, Emily could hear them over the hydrophone.

Lunch was very fun; flying parmesan and falling pasta kept everyone on their feet. The pasta went down a few tops and parmesan landed in some faces!

Reaching our anchorage - Brechacha on Coll - we set out completing our evening chores, so we could enjoy a shore visit, getting a closer look at the castles and even spotting flatfish swimming around our feet in the sea pools.

Day 4: (Emily)

At breakfast, most of the crew said they were hoping to see a minke whale – Erin, however, was set on seeing some bow riding dolphins. Sure enough, her manifestation was stronger than everyone else’s combined, and we had at least 10 bow riding common dolphins only an hour and a half into the trip! They stuck with us for quite a while, leaping around and showing off. We had a total of around 16 common dolphins when a second group appeared just a way away from us.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, until people started throwing up over the side of the boat (and on each other – let’s just say it was certainly a bonding experience).

When we finally anchored down at Oronsay, the whole crew was very tired after the longest day of our trip – we covered almost 57 nautical miles. Nancy and Katie made a delicious pesto pasta with sausages for dinner, which is just what everyone needed after over 7 hours surveying. The lie-in we all had the next day was well-deserved.

Day 5: (Emily and Lucy)

We had a beautiful day and sailed quite peacefully for most of it. We started of the day strong with a Moana sing along at breakfast. We had also manifested minke whales, but unfortunately we saw no fins all day.

We all had a very good day – and nobody threw up, which was a first! We sailed past many beautiful islands. These included Islay and Jura, home to the famous hills, the Paps of Jura. We went past Mull and anchored down in Puilladobhrain. Even though we saw no whales or dolphins, there was a group of common seals on the rocks just a wee way away from the boat!

Whilst the fajitas were cooking, the whole volunteer crew went for a swim in the loch, which was extremely rejuvenating (and very cold!). After fajitas, we made brownies using a mix that we’d bought in Tobermory at the beginning of the week and Skipper Pippa’s family recipe. Just before tucking into the brownies, first mate Connie spotted a fin out the window – finally! A sighting! A wee porpoise did a swim by before disappearing.

Day 6: (Lucy, Nancy and Emily)

Photobombing porpoise

After a slow start to the day, disaster struck; we realised there was no fun cereal (coco pops and gorilla munch) leaving us with only Rice Krispys (and the multitude of healthy cereal options). We wouldn’t have made it through the morning if it wasn’t for MC Caren’s (fourth crew) banging tunes to wake us up properly. After an eventful breakfast, we waved goodbye to the seals and set off on the final leg of our journey. We had our best weather day, despite the pessimistic forecasts – the sea was calmer than it had been all week, and it only rained a little. In total, we saw 9 harbour porpoises, and when we reached Tobermory, we spotted a group of breaching and leaping common dolphins. A porpoise even photobombed one of our science officer, Sadie’s, pictures!

Once we reached Tobermory, we started to deep clean the entire ship. Emily came face to face with the toilets as she braved the clean of the heads, whilst Erin battled the (extremely loud) hoover. After two hours, Silurian was ship-shape, and the whole crew earned themselves a warm shower in Tobermory harbour – the first one of the week for most of us! We’ve never felt so clean in our entire lives.

Once all of the jobs had been done, we celebrated the end of our survey with take out from MacGochans, a local pub in Tobermory. After fine dining, Sadie put a slideshow together summarising the triumphs and best pictures of the week, and we cleared the table ready to play some fun games. First was spoons – Katie was playing well, stealing everyone else’s spoons, until Caren swooped in and stole the win. After this we played the After 8 relay challenge, in which Nancy and Emily spent almost 15 minutes trying to get the melting chocolate off their faces and into their mouths.

We finished the evening up on deck, where we took our final group picture of the trip. Another day, another slay!

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the teen researchers on this survey, we have added to the scientific evidence necessary to protect whales, dolphins and porpoises in Scottish waters. Surveying 210km, circumnavigating Mull, with 13 sightings of 37 animals from 4 species. 

The crew would like to extend a massive thanks to Erin, Howie, Emily, Lucy, Nancy and Katie who joined us on board for a week of surveying and sailing. They did an amazing job, battling through some challenging conditions, while keeping on smiling.

A huge thanks also to the Suggitt Family and Jane Kang for sponsoring two of the berths on board the expedition, allowing two young adults to gain practical experience and skills to pursue a career in marine conservation.

Showing the track lines of the area surveyed during TT2

If you are 16 or 17 years old and are feeling inspired to spend seven days at sea, working alongside scientists as marine mammal field biologists, why not join our Teen Research Expedition next year?  

THANKS ALSO TO NATURESCOT FOR SUPPORTING THE DATA COLLECTION ON BOARD SILURIAN.