Breaching Shark Photo

On our ecocruz today we had a basking shark breaching off the north of Mull, 3-times!

The shark first of all breached in front of the boat, Sula Beag, and on the following two times beside us, in full view of all the passengers!

This is a very rare sight and actually one that we have never been able to successfully photograph, plenty of splashes before, but we have never caught the shark in mid flight!  

There is very little know as to why sharks breach, one theory is that is it part of sexual behaviour.  What is usually seen is the splash from where a shark was, but to have all the passengers onboard looking where the shark first breached, to then watch it less than 100 yards away launch itself out of the water was incredible!!

Thankfully Stu (brother, guide & cameraman) was on board for his first trip for a few years and after help from Duncan grabbing the film camera managed to get this shot, well done Stu!  Unfortunatly we didnt get any footage of this encounter, but are all very pleased with the photo!

Another great day, despite their being a bit of wind and rain....doesnt seem to bother the big beasties!  We also had a golden eagle, seals and some very full creels.

James

Skipper

The 4hr Wildlife Adventure

Although quite rare we had a WHALE and a few massive fish on our Wildlife Adventure on Tuesday!!

Usually the whales are a bit further out, but today we had a juvenile Minke whale that actually came to us and swam round the boat before heading north.  We are almost certain this is a whale we have seen before, watch this space as the team analyse the photos and confirm...

Shortly after we spotted a shark and after spending some time watching it feed amongst the plankton rich tideline a further 3 sharks where seen.  We managed to get some great identification shots of two of them, and after a sample was taken from the sea it was obvious why these guys where here in good numbers, plankton soup!

To cap this all off we then had a shout on the radio of Bottlenose dolphins in the area, we where running out of time by this point!  We knew they where just the other side of the sound from us, but where traveling just too quick!!  So, the Bottlenose dolphins remain elusive this time, but there was a report of them heading north again yesterday...here's hoping

During yesterdays Wildlife Adventure we had an incredible association with a Harbour porpoise!  These usually shy animals rarely approach boats....well we had an adult follow the wake of Sula Beag for 10-minutes, 'porpoising' out of the water, doing a great job of impersonating a dolphin!  Waggy did manage to get some great shots of this rare behaviour, i will post some shortly, quite incredible!  The trip was finished off with a 4-metre Basking shark feeding on the surface, as we stopped our engines to watch it feed beside us it turned towards the boat...with a number of kids onboard they all got quite excided with the large fin making its way towards the boat!  The fish then was within a few metres of the boat, by this time it was obvious it could see us, but was not bothered by our prescence, as it continued to feed, mouth wide open just beside us, as we drifted, it followed us for a few minutes, giving us all a very clear view of its entire body, and gaping mouth, and most importantly an opportunity to get some identification shots of both sides of its dorsal fin, awesome!!  

James

Skipper

Curious whale with us for an hour

Today we really did have the most incredible association with a young Minke whale.

Having already seen one larger whale we where approached by a juvenile that surfaced within a few hundred yards of Sula Beag.   Once the engines where stopped the next sighting was of the whale slowly moving under the boat!!  It then surfaced right beside us, and looking from the top deck we had a clear view of the whole animal.

The curious beast continued this behaviour for a further hour before moving away with another juvenile.  We found it hard to take photos as our lenses where filled with whale, and all aboard had the pleasure of smelling Minke breath, it really is like rotten cabbage, or spinach as one customer suggested!

We did manage to get some great photo identification shots of this whale, both sides of its dorsal fin and back, watch this space for an update on whether we have a previous identified whale, we need the help of the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust to confirm.

Andy Tait also managed to get some great video footage which has been uploaded to YouTube to show you just how spectacular this association was, please CLICK HERE to watch (this will take you to the video in YouTube) 

We did also have a number of sightings of Harbour Porpoise, with one miniature calf that looked like it was still learning how to surface and breath!  First thing on our trip we also saw a Sea Eagle in full flight before landing on a cliff and watching us head out to sea.

Just cant wait to get back out there tomorrow, there was  a report of a shark in the sound, so fingers crossed folks!

James

Skipper