An Unusual Day Whale-watching

It was one of those lovely ‘cloudless sky days’ with a gentle easterly wind. We steamed away from Tobermory with the usual anticipation of what was to come. Every day is different out here. There is no pattern, no logical path to tread.

We passed the sea eagles in their usual haunt and then nosed out into the open seas. There were many exciting feeding frenzies of manx shearwater, gannets, and auks including the odd puffin. These were usually interspersed with porpoises hunting around the edges.

The only obvious intrusion into this wonderment was the United Nations Naval exercise goings on -- a large warship and many smaller vessels with all sorts of nasty looking things on their decks. This war like armada accompanied by warplanes, screaming overhead at odd intervals.

Three hours later, having covered a great deal of ground through many favourite whale spots and finding nothing, I decided that I must reward our passengers with something a bit unusual. We steamed to a lovely sandy bay, hidden away behind reefs and affording an idyllic place to anchor for lunch. I was just about to switch off engines when there was a large shout of “WHALE!”
There…… not more than 50 metres from us, was a juvenile minke whale.
Oh golly gosh! Here we bob in only 20 feet of water and this great and wild creature has come to say hello to us, albeit briefly, before returning seaward.

Amazing…gobsmacking. – Skipper POPZ