The whales are back!!

A few weeks have passed since the last Captain’s Log entry and what a great time we’ve been having and such fantastic weather!

I’ll start with the most exciting piece of news…. WHALE!!! The first minke of the season was spotted by guide Ewan (well done!) on the 3^rd of May. The minke whale came over to Sula Beag and surfaced three times just 15 meters off the stern allowing us to get a few good ID shots. We couldn’t ask for a better greeting! The dorsal fin had a wee notch out of it, making it easy to recognise. We’re not sure if it is one of our named whales yet but perhaps we shall see it again over the season.

One whale we know for sure is back is the star of the 2011 season…. KNOBBLE! Knobble, with his/her very distinctive dorsal fin, was seen on our Whalewatch Explorer on the 5^th of May, along with 2 other rather more sneaky minkes that day! Just like last year, Knobble surfaced several times close to the boat before carrying on feeding around us. Nobody knows where Knobble spends the winter months but he/she has been sighted around Mull almost every summer for the past 10 years, such an amazing feeling to catch up with the same individual whale time and again in such a huge sea.

The recent whale sightings have certainly been the icing on the cake but we’ve also had some fantastic sightings of other beasties too including on our short trips… porpoise, synchronised breaching seals(!), golden eagles, white tailed eagles (including one fishing), pomarine skua, the closest fulmar fly-by I’ve ever seen and water so full of fish it looks like the sea is boiling.

Another recent highlight was yesterday’s Open Day celebrating SLS’s 30^th birthday! We invited around 50 local business people aboard for a 2 hour trip and had lovely views of golden eagles flying in the sunshine and used our polecam and onboard microscope on our plankton sample! We also had delicious food from The Tobermory Fish Company and cupcakes and tablet made by Maggie. A very big thank you to all who came out with us for making it a great trip!

Mull is getting a wee bit busier now and Sula Beag is now out most days along with Sula Crion and her new skipper Iain (aka Captain Lippy) who will be busy running short trips this year. As always you can keep up to date with our sightings and photos by following our Facebook and Twitter pages… watch this space for the first dolphins and basking sharks of 2012!

Ruth :-)