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Captain's Log
Whalewatch Explorer – 30th of August 2012.
Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 30th of August 2012. Two very sociable Minke whales today which came right over to us! We could track the white markings on one of them beneath the surface as it swam alongside Sula Beag, wow! We also had superb views of the white-tailed eagles this morning being mobbed by ravens and lots of seals at the sunny Cairns of Coll during our lunch break! Not forgetting the one puffin, gannets, shearwaters, fulmars, Arctic and great skuas and storm petrels :-)
The white bands on this Minke whale's pectoral fins were visible under the water as it swam past the boat today :-)
Wildlife Adventure – 29th of August 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers – 29th of August 2012. Fantastic 4 hour trip today in lovely calm conditions! We had a Minke whale surfacing close by, harbour porpoise, common seals, white-tailed eagles, peregrine falcon and a lot of seabird activity including great & Arctic skuas harassing a kittiwake over our heads and lots of feeding gannets & shearwater :-)
Whale seen on the Wildlife Adventure, 29th of August :-)
Basking shark tag
This is a screen grab from a basking shark that Mark Harding ( Acuatours Dive Conservation and Dive Tours) filmed in July when he was aboard Sula Crion with us. Very excitingly the shark is believed to have been tagged by the Irish Basking Shark Project in 2011 or possibly 2010 off of Donegal although unfortunately it was so fouled it was not possible to get the tag number… :-)
Whalewatch Explorer - 28/08/12
Whalewatch Explorer passengers 28th of August 2012. Strong winds made for big seas today and challenging conditions for focusing on the marine life. Our feathered friends provided a lot of the entertainment with both WT and Golden Eagle in flight along the coastline. A huge amount of Gannets feeding all throughout the trip and you can understand why it was recently voted Britains top wildlife spectacle. Fulmars and Shearwaters riding the strong sea breeze on stiff wings making it look incredibly easy. Common and Grey Seals seen hauled out and an unverified Otter sighting! Impressive waterfalls and a Rainbow were positives created from the falling wet stuff! Ewan
27th of August 2012 - No trips today... Bit of boat maintenance as it blew a wee hoolie out there today! ;-)
Ecocruz - 26th of August 2012
Ecocruz passengers - 26th of August 2012. Lovely wee two hour trip this afternoon, the highlight has to be the raptors! Fantastic views of both golden and white-tailed eagles in flight and with a nearby buzzard we had a wonderful size comparison! :-)
Wildlife Adventure - 26th of August 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers - 26th of August 2012. Harbour porpoise, white-tailed & golden eagle, common & grey seals and some of our favourite seabirds were seen today including Manx shearwater, gannets and lots of auks! We also listened to the hydrophone, had an excellent plankton trawl and found two crabs in the creels :-)
Wildlife Adevnture 24th August - Orca footage!!!!!!!!
Wildlife Adventure - 24th Orca 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers - 24th of August 2012...... ORCA!!!
Orca (we are pretty sure this is the named male, Kinky) on our Wildlife Adventure 24th August 2012. A huge thank you to Paul Gallacher from Silver Swift, Tobermory Charters, who first found them and guided us in! ;-)
A lot clearer as to why this Orca is called Kinky! What an incredible encounter we had today! ;-)
Dorsal fin of a female Orca we think is called Puffin , with the tail of either Aquarius or Kinky ;-)
Male Orca we are pretty sure is called Aquarius, wow, look at that dorsal fin!! ;-)
Whalewatch Explorer - 23rd August 2012
Whalewatch Explorer passengers - 23rd of August 2012. One very elusive Minke whale today which only a few folk onboard saw before we lost track of it but plenty of other wildlife to keep us occupied! Including harbour porpoise, white-tailed eagles, common and grey seals, diving gannets, fulmars, long-tailed and great skuas and feeding Manx shearwater :-)
Wildlife Adventure - 22nd August 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers - 22nd of August 2012. Sunshine and showers on today's 4 hour trip... we stayed in sheltered water hunting for wildlife and were rewarded with some lovely views of harbour porpoise, adult and juvenile white-tailed eagles, common and grey seals, an elusive otter and lots of feeding shearwater and diving gannets! :-)
Exciting new video footage from 21st August 2012!!!
Whalewatch Explorer - 21st August 2012
Whalewatch Explorer passengers 21/08 - A privilege to be out again today with calm seas and sunny spells as our first encounter was a group of up to 20 common dolphins which came to ride our bow and it was great to see two tiny calf's present! Next we had a sociable minke whale and a single basking shark quartering on the surface. There was a lot of feeding gannets, Manx shearwater and a few storm petrels along with skuas patrolling the area and a single puffling was seen before it will head off to the open sea to spend the winter months. Two travelling minke whales on the way home and also two of Mulls magnificent eagles. The plankton sample was good which is always a highlight of any trip. Great to have old guide Duncan on board as well. what a day!
Lifeboat Day - The result!
Whalewatch Explorer - 20th August 2012
Whalewatch Explorer passengers - 20th of August 2012. Two Minke whales on today's trip but the star of the show has got to be... Knobble!! We've not seen Knobble for a couple of weeks but he/she made an appearance today surfacing around Sula Beag. We also saw porpoise, white-tailed eagles, skuas, storm petrels, lots of diving gannets, had fantastic fulmar fly-bys and spent our lunch hour in the company of common and grey seals :-)
SSACN - No to Tiree wind farm
Wilidlife Adventure - 19th August 2012 (Lifeboat day!)
Wildlife Adventure passengers - 19th of August 2012. Glorious sunshine and a lovely blue sea this morning with a couple of porpoise sightings, common and grey seals, brief views of 2 white-tailed eagles and fantastic views of a golden eagle as we headed for home! As you can see the bunting was up on Sula Beag for Tobermory RNLI Lifeboat day! :-)
Whalewatch Explorer - 18th August 2012
Whalewatch Explorer passengers - 18th of August 2012. Two minke whales today, one of which crossed within metres of Sula Beag's bow! We also saw a small basking shark, several groups of porpoise, common and grey seals and lots of bird activity including skuas, fulmars, gannets and shearwaters! :-)
Minke whale seen on today's Whalewatch Explorer surfacing very close to Sula Beag!
This unfortunate common seal is the second we've found this season entangled in marine litter, seen on today's Whalewatch Explorer.
Wildlife Adventure - 17th August 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers - 17th of August 2012. A wet start to today's trip but that didn't stop us or the wildlife! The highlights included watching 2 white-tailed eagles in flight for around 10 minutes (and even observed them talon-grappling!), seeing several porpoise including a mother and calf and we had lovely views of a distant minke whale! Also grey and common seals and lots of feeding Manx shearwater and diving gannets :-)
Whalewatch Explorer - 16th August 2012
Whalewatch Explorer 16th August. These patient passengers on board got treated to a very close minke whale encounter and also a few skittish basking sharks and a fast travelling group of dolphins, breaching and creating a lot of splash. Great skuas tackling gannets, feeding shearwater, two swifts, storm petrel and the kings of the skies golden eagles. Great views and landscapes along the coastline of the wild west of Ardnamurchan on another sunny day out at sea!
Wildlife Adventure - 15th of August
Wildlife Adventure passengers - 15th of August 2012. A wild and windy trip today with 2 basking sharks and a BREACHING MINKE WHALE!!!! The whale did it twice 150 metres off our port side, a truly incredible and very rare sight! Also porpoise, common & grey seals and white-tailed & golden eagles in flight :-)
Brilliant scores on our Ecoquiz today :-)
Whalewatch Explorer - 14th August 2012
Whalewatch Explorer passengers - 14th of August 2012. Brilliant trip today with several Minke whales and basking sharks. One shark came particularly close and swam alongside Sula Beag giving everyone onboard the chance to see the shark's whole body under the water and look into its gaping mouth, wow! Also porpoise, common and grey seals, Manx shearwater, puffins, fulmars, diving gannets and a juvenile white-tailed eagle on our way home! :-)
Spot the seal!! This was one of the many common seals we saw whilst taking a break from whale watching to have our lunch!
Great skua attacking a juvenile gannet
Wildlife Adventure - 12th August 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers - 12th of August 2012. A blustery 4 hour trip staying in sheltered waters around Mull's North shore. We found adult and juvenile white-tailed eagles, common and grey seals, lots of feeding shearwater and some very playful harbour porpoise which were behaving more like dolphins! We also had a fantastic plankton trawl and listened to the crustaceans on the hydrophone :-)
The great Andy Tait giving a lecture on plankton to a full house on Sula Beag on yesterdays Whalewatch.
Whalewatch Explorer - 11th August 2012
Whalewatch Explorer passengers - 11th of August 2012. Minke whales, basking shark and our second sighting of a sunfish this season were some of the highlights from today's trip! We also stopped for lunch amongst the seals and white sandy beaches and saw great skuas, storm petrels, feeding shearwater and had several close fulmar fly-bys :-)
Not one of our best photographs but this is the sunfish we saw today... you can just make out the dorsal fin breaking the surface and the pale disc-shaped body lying almost horizontal under the water! :-)
Wildlife Adventure - 10th August 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers - 10th of August 2012. A wonderful sunny 4 hour trip today with some fantastic sightings…. We stopped many times throughout the trip to watch (and listen to!) porpoise in flat calm conditions, some came within a few metres from us! We also saw common and grey seals, had an adult white-tailed eagle fly over our heads whilst the juvenile sat calling from the shore, saw what we think was a distant otter curled up snoozing on a rock and had great views of some of our favourite seabirds! :-)
Ecocruz - 9th August 2012
Eco-Cruz passengers 13:00 09/08/12 - Sunny short trips today as we covered all our sheltered coastal wildlife and got some great encounters with Porpoise and Harbour Seals. Both Eagle species were enjoying the sunshine just like all the guests on board. Our plankton samples were rich in life and we hauled up our creel pots to find a Squat Lobster, Langoustine and Shore Crabs!
Wildlife Adventure - 8th August 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers - 8th of August 2012. Glorious sunshine on yesterday's 4 hour trip with porpoise, lots of feeding Manx shearwater, white-tailed eagles soaring on the thermals above Mull, a very elusive Minke whale which sadly only a few onboard saw, common and grey seals and a langoustine in the creels! :-)
Whalewhale Explorer 7th of August
Whalewatch
Explorer passengers - 7th of August 2012. Flat, calm conditions and
fantastic visibility meant we were spotting Minke whales from several
miles away today! However, one individual whale decided to come
exceptionally close swimming under Sula Beag's bow and along our
starboard side allowing us to see its whole body including tail beneath
the water, an extraordinary encounter! Also close views of basking
sharks, porpoise, common & grey seals, white-tailed eagles, Arctic
& great skuas, storm petrels, puffins and fulmars to name a few
other highlights :-)
This is the Minke whale which swam under our
bow today, we've looked through the ID catalogue and its unique dorsal
fin looks very similar to one of the whales already in there!
Unfortunately for the whale it doesn't have a name and is only known by
the code 'FD45'.... hopefully we'll be seeing this curious whale again!
A close encounter on today's Whalewatch
Explorer with the Minke we believe might be 'FD45'... definitely going
to have to come up with a proper name for this amazing whale!!
Bottlenose on the hydrophone!!!
Whalewatch Explorer - 6th August 2012
Whalewatch Explorer passengers - 6th of August 2012. We were starting to lose count of how many Minke whales we saw today, what a dilemma to have!! Definitely 6 if not 7 individual whales one of which was Knobble who came right over to Sula Beag allowing us to see the white bands on the pectoral fins. Also porpoise, Arctic skuas, juvenile white-tailed eagle, lots of common and grey seals and sunshine! :-)
Wildlife Adventure - 5th August 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers - 5th of August 2012. Superb wildlife encounters today with perfect flat, calm conditions! We drifted for over an hour with a Minke whale surfacing around us along with lots of porpoise and a very sneaky basking shark! We also saw all 4 members of the local sea eagle family and finished the trip with a group of BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS who lead us back home to Tobermory! We deployed the hydrophone and heard them clicking and whistling as they played around Sula Beag, an incredible sound and amazing experience :-)
Harbour Porpoise with a very obvious nic in its dorsal fin, a very rare sight indeed! This adult was with a calf and circled the boat, wow!
Bottlenose Dolphins
Sula Crion on an Ecocruz with a curious minke whale
Whalewatch Explorer - 4th August 2012
Whalewatch Explorer passengers - 4th of August 2012. Another special 7 hour trip today in excellent conditions and with wonderful sightings. Within the 1st hour we had 3 minke whales, 2 basking sharks, porpoise and all 4 members of our local white-tailed eagle family!! The sightings continued throughout the day with more sharks and another 3 whales, wow! Also storm petrels and great skuas and a lunch stop on our favourite shell-sand beach with the seals and terns. What an amazing place we live! :-)
Wildlife Adventure - 3rd August 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers - 3rd August 2012. We sat drifting with the engines off for around an hour with a Minke whale, several basking sharks and porpoise for company, magic! We had one close association with the whale and one of the larger sharks came within metres of our stern as it cruised up and down the tide line feeding. Also shearwaters, diving gannets, common seals and a juvenile sea eagle :-)
Great views of a Minke whale on our Wildlife Adventure, this one surfaced just a few metres of Sula Beag’s stern! You can even make out the white band on its pectoral fin through the water
Minke whale and Manx shearwater
Common Dolphin 2nd August 2012
A Common Dolphin wake riding on our Whalewatch Explorer
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