Dolphin whisperers and minke magnets on our second teen expedition

The second of our teen trips this year took the team south, circum-navigating Mull, via Jura, Islay and Colonsay - the first time these waters have been surveyed this summer field season. Below the teens share their experiences.

DAY 1: RUEBEN AND ELLIE

The first day began by learning how to call out sightings, being taught the order of what information to call out and how to estimate distances. We then went through safety on the boat and other on board information ,such as how to input data at the science station. We then got prepared for the day by putting on our oilskins and learning how to use safety tethers correctly. We set off from Tobermory at roughly 12 o’clock and headed south, everyone ready at their stations and excited for their first day.

After a short time sailing, we were treated to some common dolphins at a distance, a good start. We also saw a seal, the rest of the day resulted in no sightings, but we were successful in finding our sea legs, with no one getting sick!

Although low on sightings, we did have a special visit from the much loved Derrick the daddy long legs (may he rest in peace), who was clinging on to the mast during the day. Eventually, we stopped for the night in Loch Spelve and enjoyed a night of playing pass the pigs and wrestling with exploding wraps.

DAY 2: BETH AND AVA

The second day began with breakfast at Loch Spelve, before we set off for the first full day of surveying - today we added some steps as we were also surveying boats and birds. We had only been sailing for a short amount of time before we saw a few common dolphins jumping in the distance, which eventually turned out to be a very large pod which we estimated to contain around 100 individuals. They approached the boat and played under the bow, with some of us being lucky enough to watch from them from above after climbing out on the bowsprit.

Later in the day we recorded porpoise in different places, which were difficult to find due to their small stature, shy nature and being concealed by waves. Finally, the boat was anchored in a bay near seals, and we went ashore to swim (safely away from the seals!) and explore the isolated land.

When we returned to the boat, Lenny and Bella introduced us to the ‘murder game’, where everyone randomly picks a piece of card with the name of a person that they must give a specific object to in a certain place in order to murder them.  Cards picked; the game was afoot!

DAY 3: REBECCA AND CLAIRE

Our third day began extra early to make sure there was enough time to safely get around Islay with the complex tides. This was a new transect that had not yet been surveyed this year. The day had sparse sightings with a lone bottling seal sighting, being the highlight. However, we kept morale high with biscuits and sweets, as well as some pufflings, jellyfish, a fulmar, lots of gannets, Manx shearwaters, and storm petrel sightings. Some of us even had a go at sailing the boat.

There were also many interesting chats at the mast about condiments, bread, food groups, popcorn, cheese, and Barbenheimer. While the familiar sound of a bell ringing became the much-anticipated call that a murderer was afoot throughout the day. A total of 4 murders took place on the first day, with the first sneak attack happening first thing in the morning, by our Skipper Celia getting Reuben with toilet paper in the galley, while Sadie, our science officer, became a casualty twice, getting knocked out of the game by a salty table and getting stung by a bee.

We began our evening with a lengthy shore visit on Colonsay’s beautiful sandy beach, Kiloran Bay. On shore, we visited the Colonsay Whale and imitated breaching humpback whales for a photo. We went to bed hoping for a luckier fin-filled day tomorrow.

DAY 4: REUBEN AND ELLIE

We started the day after a quick breakfast, eager to try to find a whale after a slow day 3. We started to head back north towards Mull. We had a rough start with high swell and strong wind that shook the boat and made it difficult to walk around the boat. Our tether practice from day one certainly came in handy today!

We persevered in these less-than-ideal sea conditions and at around 2 o’clock it paid off as we got 15 common dolphins bow riding. This was not a complete surprise as our very own dolphin whisperer, Claire, had heard them on the hydrophone not long beforehand. After this the swell subsided a bit so that we could walk around easier, and our hopes were high from the dolphins.

At around 2:30pm, during a shift change, there was an eruption of screaming from the mast of the boat as a blow was spotted in the distance. Suspecting a minke whale, everyone got into positions to go ‘with whale’ and finally managed to catch a glimpse of the whale before it disappeared. On a high from our first whale sighting, which had been joined by a pod of dolphins, we were eagle eyed hoping for our luck to continue.  

And much to our excitement, it did…a few minutes later, another minke whale surfaced much closer to the boat, with our keen observer, Ellie, on the mast, excitedly shouting out the ever important ‘bearing, distance heading’ (after spluttering WHALE! of course). With the whale surfacing more frequently than the last, the team were finally able to get their first ID photo of the trip, spotting a very distinct nick in the whale’s dorsal fin.

By now everyone was very excited, but the day wasn’t done yet. A porpoise was spotted to the right and immediately after a large fin was spotted just ahead of the boat. After a very enthusiastic shout from the Science Officer of ‘BASKING SHARK’, everyone rushed above deck to watch this gentle giant swim along the surface, at times getting so close we could see its gaping mouth through the water. It followed the boat for quite a long time before we returned to the transect to complete the day.

Another surprise twist followed, with Lenny, our First Mate, unsuspectingly murdered by Rebecca after eating his lunch with a fork at the helm.

As we entered Soriby Bay, on Ulva, for the night, we saw more dolphins and recorded lots of creels before coming off effort and finishing for the day.

DAY 5: SADIE (SCIENCE OFFICER)

Our final day started more leisurely with a discussion on who would be on the mast first to contend with the many creels we were going to pass as we left our anchorage. With positions delegated and everyone ready to start our final day of survey, the shock murder of one of the teens, sparked anticipation for who the winner would be from the final 3 in the game. With this question lingering, we started our final survey, heading back to Tobermory.

As we entered open waters, a few feeding birds were spotted in the distance and hopes were high for continued luck from yesterday. After a couple hours of no sightings, those off duty and still in the (murder) game, set their sights on their next victim. With the help of a couple of trusty accomplices, including Reuben, who was set to get his revenge for being the first casualty of the game, Bella, our fourth crew, managed to finally get Celia, our Skipper, leaving just two in the game.

As we entered the Sound of Mull, eagled eyed Ava (even when on break) spotted a couple of sneaky dolphins who were bow riding, but as soon as the shout went out, they vanished. As we approached Tobermory and our final hour of survey, a pod of approx. 15 common dolphins were spotted in the distance, which then reappeared a short time later ahead of us as we made our final transect to Tobermory.

Reaching our final destination, the teams started to clear up, making space for hot drinks and snacks, but the ever-prepared Bella, was ready with her next murder weapon, having had her accomplice place the Silurian cookbook in the saloon, the final victim of the game, Ellie, dutifully tided the book, and was announced murdered, seeing Bella the victor.

The trip came to a close with a final presentation from our Science Officer, summarising everywhere we travelled and everything we had seen, before presenting each teen with a personalised certificate to celebrate the contribution they made to marine science.

The crew would like to thank the dedicated teens, Claire, Reuben, Ava, Ellie, Rebecca and Beth who jumped into every aspect of the trip with enthusiasm and perseverance.

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the teen researchers on this survey, we travelled almost 400km, recording 6 species and almost 28 hours of acoustic data recordings.

The track lines of the area surveyed

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.