250 animals logged during ninth research expedition
The crew of our ninth research expedition of the year left TObermory and circumnavigated the Isles of Tiree and Mull. The fantastic team of citizen scientists who joined the crew on board envountered 250 individual animals across seven days. Read all about their experiences…
DAY 1
We arrived just as the drizzle stopped and it became a beautiful sunny evening for our first night on board Silurian. After introductions, a hot drink, and some tasty dinner we had our first briefing from Jenny.
The briefing covered species ID for the whales, dolphins, seals and basking sharks that we might see during the week. It was both fascinating and sobering; though it is thought species like harbour porpoise are doing well in the Hebrides, killer whales are not, with dead whales found with huge amounts of toxic pollution in them.
A few fun facts: male killer whales' fins stand around 2 metres high (!!) and the Risso's dolphin can be identified from its colour. They are born dark and can become almost white by the time they are old because of scarring. Basking sharks' brains are the size of a walnut, and when they feed they almost go into a feeding trance.
The crew was really welcoming and our fellow volunteers friendly. It felt like we were in for a good week!
DAY 2
We awoke to a beautiful morning in Tobermory Harbour. After breakfast, we received more interesting training from Jenny, this time on visual and auditory surveying. The expedition started to feel really exciting as we learned about what the surveying involves and why it is important. The marine environment also started to seem more alive and vibrant as we learned about the richness of the underwater soundscape, and its importance to cetaceans. An amazing fact from today: sound can travel underwater for thousands of miles!
We set off into an increasingly sunny day. Our first rounds of being on effort passed quickly with some sightings of porpoise and seals. Once out amongst the islands, however, we were treated to a real bonanza: pods of common dolphins that skipped under the bow, porpoises, and lots of minke whales. It was so good that we stayed longer than expected before beating a retreat into a small anchorage on Coll.
It was a real treat, especially for our first experience surveying.
DAY 3
We started the day learning about seabird ID, so that we could start recording our bird sightings from the boat. Another new world opened up as we learned to tell a Manx shearwater from a guillemot, and a kittiwake from a gull.
Then we went back on effort, setting off down between the Isle of Mull, and the Isles of Coll and Tiree. We weren't expecting to top yesterday's exceptional sightings, but day 3 didn't disappoint, with porpoises, more common dolphins on the bow, seals, and - excitingly - a basking shark! These sharks are huge; Jaws music played in our heads as we watched its dorsal and tail fins slice through the water. No worries though, basking sharks are massive but mostly harmless, feeding on plankton gathered in their gill rakers.
We finished the day in a beautiful cove on the south side of Tiree, with a beautiful swim on a white sand beach as the sun started to set.
DAY 4
We set off with lovely sunshine, only to be met with rain by the time we went ‘on effort’. The first few relays brought us numerous bird sightings, with gannets, puffins, shags, a surprise appearance of a skua and a wonderful visitation from a small storm petrel.
The rain soon ceased, the morning rolled along with no sea based sightings, but spirits were kept high with Brian's second breakfast, followed by Bruce's risotto and Tom keeping us supplied with ginger biscuits, always seeming to arrive at EXACTLY the right time.
Long into the afternoon, with a welcome shout of SIGHTING from Lou we were treated to a small pod of cheeky common dolphins. We were as excited to see them as they were to see us and lifted our spirits. As we were busy counting and enjoying the delights of the common dolphins, Jonny gave the SIGHTING signal, and the news that he had spotted a whale. After a call of WITH WHALE we all kept our eyes on the water, waiting for a re-appearance. We were finally treated to two minke whales, which was a fabulous reward after an extended day of effort.
The evening was spent in a beautiful bay on Erraid Sound.
DAY 5
We awoke from a slightly rolly night (which actually put us nicely off to sleep!) to another still sunny morning. We set off for our last full survey day into a warm morning. There was little breeze but a bit of swell from the previous day. Off into the blue we went again.
We headed over towards Colonsay, sighting several more minke whales and porpoises and spending quite some time meandering around ‘with whale’. We eventually sighted another 12 (arguably 13 according to one observer) minkes.
Eventually we made our way up the Sound of Mull. The water here was far more sheltered, allowing one of the volunteers to venture up to the crow's nest.
Finally, we found an anchorage at the beautiful Easdale island and went on a shore visit for a pint, a walk, and a stone skimming session (the island is an old slate quarry, and hosts the skimming world championships each year!).
Another fabulously varied and interesting day!
DAY 6
Our final day surveying whales and dolphins saw us transecting up the Sound of Mull. With many more boats and fewer birds than we had seen the whole trip, we encountered porpoises and seals in the tidal race of the Sound.
As we approached our final destination of Tobermory, once again, Jonny called ‘Sighting!’ and we encountered a large group of common dolphins with at least two very small calves - what a treat.
We arrived in Tobermory in sunshine, shared our favourite moments of the trip and gave Silurian a good clean down before heading for dinner at the local pub.
Across 7 days, the group surveyed 215 miles of Hebridean waters encountering 3 species of cetacean and a basking shark.
