The Best of British Marine Wildlife...........

The last few weeks on our trips we have experienced some of the best that British wildlife has to offer. Amazing marine life as well as superb bird activity. Some great trips during July with every one being unique with something different to offer. That is the beauty of Wildlife being so unpredictable and ever changing with something new with every adventure. Other industries can be predictable in a way such as TV and Film but when it comes to wildlife you can never call what is going to happen next as you could be watching Puffins out at sea and then suddenly a Basking Shark could breach out of nowhere!

Common Dolphin associating with boat....

Sunset at Cairns of Coll

Another great thing about wildlife and nature is that we are all involved in it and can all play a part. If you have a plot of land or a garden great or small then you can make a big contribution to your local wildlife. Wildlife requires two main things, somewhere safe to breed and also an area to forage and feed throughout the year. Creating some rougher areas for breeding, hunting and foraging spaces for an array of species will help promote the wildlife as well as providing you with huge rewards from watching wildlife flourish thanks to your management.

Letting your lawn grow to a bit of length helps promote wild flowers that an array of invertebrates can take advantage of. It also provides egg laying and over wintering of Caterpillars and Leather Jackets. The wealth of insects the wild grass attracts in turn will bring in a good variation of garden birds to go with it! Depending on the size of land and also the environment it could also provide great cover for rodents and you never know that could easily bring in Owls to your garden! Fantastic!

A water feature with different depths will contribute in a huge way to your local wildlife. Shallow waters create an area for bathing and drinking birds as well as an area for emerging Dragonflies and for Amphibians to lay eggs. The deeper waters help aquatic insects survive cold spells and also good places to watch newts swimming. A whole new ecosystem is created when you provide a garden pond!

Ringtail Harrier

A rare Sei Whale has been spotted in Scottish waters. It was spotted by a paramedic from an aeroplane between the islands of Islay and Gigha. Adult Sei Whales can reach 20-30 tonnes and up to 19.5 meters in length. At first it was considered a Fin whale which has been recorded more in these waters but when studying the dorsal fin closer they noticed it was quite large and curved backwards with both features fitting the Sei Whale. It is thought that there are only about 13,000 whales left in the northern hemisphere with their numbers affected by whaling and fishing.

Kittiwake

The Scottish Natural Heritage has introduced six new Golden Eagle protection areas in the country. A fantastic move classified by the Scottish ministers to help protect these unbelievable birds for the future. Their numbers have been stable in the last couple of decades but their range has decreased from the eastern parts of Scotland and they are still threatened by poisoning and persecution to protect grouse for shooting. The Golden Eagle is a symbol for the country and an icon to Scotland and must be protected at all costs. It's a shame the powers in England don't have the same mentality regarding the majestic Hen Harrier.

Northern Fulmar - The most northerly bird along with Snow Bunting and Black-legged Kittiwake have all been seen at the North Pole itself

Great Skua!

Artic Tern

Common Sandpiper, Ardmore

The Blue whale is the largest animal to ever have lived on our planet, here are some fascinating facts.....

- Can grow up to 33m in length

- They can consume their own body mass in water in just one gulp

- Some of their blood vessels are so good that a human could swim down them

- Their heart is the size of a small car

- Their tongue the weight of an Elephant

- Their tail fluke the width of a small air craft

- Their calves as soon as their born are already among the largest living things on the planet

Blue Whale numbers could be as low as 10,000 and they could be at the stage called 'the point of no return' as their breeding rate is so slow that the natural rate that Blue Whales die along with human interference like Whaling and boat traffic that they could not keep up with that rate loss through producing new young. One thing that doesn't help their chances is that a lot of their sightings have been solitary behaviour and their populations are quite wide spread meaning that the whales might not meet each other enough to increase the chances of reproduction. Humpback Whales on the other hand have strong bonds and can be seen in larger groups and that is one of the reasons that they have made a successful recovery over the last few decades.

There is a Blue Whale skeleton being displayed on the Isle of Coll. It was washed up there in the 19th century and shows that these great whales used to range in these areas before the huge impact of whaling in the late 19th and early 20th centuries removing more than 360,000 Blue Whales from the oceans.

Common Dolphin approaching the boat....

good bit of Air time!

A Local hero's Treshnish farm has won RSPBs nature of farming award for Argyll and is among the finalists for the best wildlife friendly farm in Great Britain. The award celebrates farmers who invest significant effort, dedication and care to run a farm that creates fantastic wildlife habitats – and is economically viable, the best of all worlds.

Locked!

More Pilot Whales put themselves into danger this month as a pod of 60 are reported near Kyle of Durness and more than 20 have already died when entering the deep sea loch. At low tide they became stranded. In May around 60 whales appeared in Loch Carnan, South Uist although they left the loch as one became stranded and died of infection.

The Whales have a big downfall in their evolution as they have such strong social bonds and when one whale becomes ill and has an infection it is thought that when the struggling whale tries to beach itself the healthy whales will follow and end up getting into trouble themselves. It could also be to do with following food source into the area and then getting into problems in the shallower waters.

Basking Shark

The Basking sharks that visit our waters in the summer season were hunted here up until the 1980s. They were hunted for their liver oil as well as their cartilage and fins. Despite the majority of Basking Shark fisheries closing they are still hunted in some areas mainly in Asia. Their liver Oil was used for a lubricant for machinery as well as for tanning leather and also lamp oil. Basking Sharks fins because of their large size are valuable in the Shark Fin soup market in Asia where it is the main ingredient in a tasteless broth containing bland and chewy fin pieces. Flavouring has to be added to make it more tasteful.

The brutality in the way the Sharks are caught is nothing short of disgusting as their fins are sliced off and then thrown back into the ocean still alive where they sink to the bottom of the seabed and end up as bait for the primary consumers in the oceans ecosystem.

The Apex Predators of the oceans ending up as food source for the primary species is exactly the same as cutting off all of a Lion's limbs and leaving it out on the plains for scavengers to feed off.

- Sharks have existed on this planet for 450 million years, surviving 5 major extinctions.

- 100 million sharks are killed each year (that works out to more than 10,000 per hour).

- Vast numbers of sharks die incidentally as "by catch," killed needlessly and thrown overboard unused by fishermen using nets and long lines to catch other types of fish. One report estimates 50 million are caught and killed this way.

- As many as 73 million are killed by the shark finning industry.

- It is estimated that 90 percent of all large sharks have been wiped out, and 93-99 percent of all large sharks off the east coast of North America are gone (tiger sharks, bull sharks, hammerhead sharks, etc.).

Ardnamurchan

Ardnamurchan is a true 'wild west' part of Great Britain. It is home to some of the UK's rarest mammals including the Scottish Wildcat and also the Pine Marten. Their range has been cut right down to these remote areas of Great Britian through habitat loss and persecution. An introduction of Pine Martens in Dumfries and Galloway in the Galloway National Park is helping promote the species in new areas.

A Pine Marten introduction in areas of North England will again promote this fantastic animal into its old range and also play a big part in helping decrease Grey Squirrel populations which are working their way up the country.

Sand eel in Bill

Ardnamurchan Point sun set to the north

We have a Killer Whale population off the west coast of Scotland which is just exciting to know we have our very own resident Orcas! There is a west coast community population of 9 and they are known to be unique compared to nearby populations as they are greater in size and they are also known to feed on different available food sources like cetaceans such as Porpoise and Dolphins. The north Atlantic community of Orcas are known to feed on Herring, Mackerel and Seal pups at the breeding time of the year when they time it right to take advantage of newly born pups off Orkney and the Shetland Isles. The west coast community are thought to be more closely related to a population of Orcas in Antarctica. Sadly the future is uncertain for our west coast community as they are so isolated that there is not a great chance of them meeting other Orca communities to breed and keep the population going. Surely they have to be one of the biggest wildlife encounters on the planet and you can get them off the British Isles.

Otter feeding

Eurasian otter....

Otters are as well adapted to life in the British Isles as they are at home as much in the water as they are on land. Also they are becoming more widespread on coastal areas as well as inland in fresh water locations. Their increase in population is helping with the demise of the invasive American Mink which has increased its range to all of the British Isles including most of the 800 Scottish islands.

One of the most common questions I get asked when working for Sea Life Surveys is 'Where is the best place to see Otters?' And the answer to this is that there are always locations that will give you a better chance of coming across the mammals but they cover such a large range to feed that it can be difficult. In general its more to do with your own behaviour and commitment. Things like making sure you are downwind from the area you are focusing on and also keeping very still as their eyesight is poor but they pick up any different changes in the landscape. The main thing is to commit your self for a period of time and be patient and the rewards can be huge. The right place at the right time and also a bit of luck and you will always give your self a chance!

Sunrise in Tobermory harbour

Minke by Coll

Minke arching back and going down for a deep dive

Common Dolphin seen a number of times throughout June / July

Photography by Ewan Miles

To wrap it up 5 Wildlife Facts.....

• Petrels and Shearwaters can smell food source from up to 10 miles away if the conditions are right
• Atlantic Puffins can hold a large number of Sand eels in their bill at any one time with the record counted being 81
• A Spiders silk is five times stronger than steel and 30 times more stretchy than nylon
• Sharks do not have a single bone in their body; Its skeleton is made up of Cartilage
• Some colony Bee's can get drunk off cider and when they return to their hive there is a Bee doormen that remove them from the colony for being in a bad way

Thanks for reading :-)

Ewan

Wildlife Guide