|
Captain's Log
Whalewatch Explorer - 27th September 2012
Whalewatch Explorer Passengers 27/09/12 - Its getting "otter" in Tobermory! Again we were treated to a marine mustelid as we were at the pontoon ready to leave and big thanks to Nic for letting us know. We headed out to the exposed sea which had calmed down from the days previous. Gannets and guillemots on the way out and a visit to our local seal colony with no sign of grey seal pups of yet. After lunch we encountered a small group of COMMON DOLPHINS! Which stayed with us for five minutes riding our bow. Great and Arctic skuas also seen and two of our local white-tailed eagles in the usual place. No sign of minke whales today, could it be a sign of movement? A lot of our migratory animals have moved away or in the process of dispersing, and migration is an incredible natural phenomenon with the main reasons been following the food source, avoiding predation, safe breeding grounds and also a vital test to remove the unfit that don't complete the journey.
Wildlife Adventure - 26th September 2012
Wildlife Adventure Passengers 26/09/12 - The trip started with an otter in hunting mode near the pontoon metres from us! As we joined the sound of Mull the sea was a bit lumpy so we took shelter around the coastline of Ardnamurchan. Down loch Sunart the different shades or orange and green were stunning and always great to see the fragments of the original Caledonian pine forests around the district. We encountered a small group of common seals hauled out and also got consistent views of gannets throughout. On the way back we saw two harbour porpoise surfing the waves. Looking forward to tomorrows Whalewatch!
A great start to today's trip with an Otter showing very well before we had even left the pontoon!
Competition: Name our local sea eagle chicks!!!
COMPETITION: NAME OUR LOCAL SEA EAGLE CHICKS! On nearly every trip this season we have been very privileged to watch the progress of a white-tailed eagle pair successfully raise two fit and healthy fledglings... have you been out and seen them?! Debby Thorne from the Mull Eagle Watch hide has kindly let Sea Life Surveys passengers name the chicks so we need your suggestions!! The chicks were ringed when they were still on the nest but their sex is not yet known so the only requirement is that the names need to suit both male and female eagles! We’ll be running this wee competition until the end of September and the winning names will be picked from those suggested by Debby and SLS skippers, James and Popz, at the beginning of October. The winner will also be invited on a 2 hour Ecocruz trip to try and spot the eagles for themselves! If you have any suggestions please email info@sealifesurveys.com...... THANK YOU!! :-)
Here's a video clip of one of the juvenile white-tailed eagles looking for a name! Thanks to Andy Tait for the footage! :-)
Whalewatch Explorer - 22nd September 2012
Whalewatch passengers and crew 22/09/12 - We headed out of the pontoon this morning in crisp sunshine and a light fresh autumn breeze. It was one of the clearest days of the season as we could see the paps of Jura to the south and clear detail of the terrain on the Cuillin mountains of Skye to the north along with the higher ground of the outer isles. Knobble the minke whale was the star of the show again as it came into us, surfacing very close by. Another more distant whale was seen. We checked out the local seal colony next and got distracted by a third whale surfacing off our stern! We got a nice group of porpoise on the way back in with the sun glinting off their backs.
One of the top six operators in the world!!!!
Exciting news from Planet Whale!!! We are one of the six outstanding whale and dolphin watching operators that have been shortlisted for the first ever global awards ceremony developed by the whale watching industry and for the whale watching industry!
http://www.planetwhale.com/boat-682_Sea_Life_Surveys_Whale_Dolphin_Watching
Thanks to everyone that has posted a review and helped us to get into the top 6!!! What a privilege to be recognised out of the hundreds of global operators! :-D
September 2012 - Fantastic footage!!!
Wildlife Adventure - 21st September 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers – 21st of September 2012. The eagles were taking full advantage of this glorious sunny weather today and were showing exceptionally well. In fact we lost count of how many we saw! We saw 2 adult white-tailed eagles sat in a tree and 2 other more distant ones flying out to sea! We also had brilliant views of several golden eagles flying high on the thermals over Mull and had a close encounter with one which flew right over Sula Beag allowing us to see the full golden colour of its head in the sunlight, stunning! :-)
We saw around 20 common seals hauled out in the sunshine with Tobermory in the background on today's Wildlife Adventure trip :-)
Whalewatch Explorer - 20th September 2012
Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 20th of September 2012. After over a week of being restricted to the Sound of Mull we had superb conditions today and headed out west towards Coll! It turned out to be a rather special trip with a group of around 15 common dolphins on our bow for about half an hour. There were a few juveniles amongst them and one tiny calf! We also saw THREE Minke whales including one of our favourite named whales… Knobble!! Knobble passed alongside us even giving everyone a glimpse of his chin as he/she lifted its rostrum out of the water slightly. We were also treated to some pretty special bird encounters including golden eagles and phalaropes! What a day! :-)
Wildlife Adventure - 19th September 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers – 19th of September 2012. We spent a lovely 4 hours searching for beasties around stunning Loch Sunart today. It was rather quiet on the wildlife front but we did have 2 great northern divers fly over us, found lots of common seals hauled out enjoying the sun and had our faithful seabirds to keep us entertained... kittiwakes, guillemots, gannets, shags and Manx shearwater to name a few. Andy Tait also found us lots of tiny animals in the plankton trawl (and no, we’re not sure why he is holding a fender for today’s group pic?!) :-)
Whalewatch Explorer - 18th September 2012
Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 18th of September 2012. Large swells prevented us heading too far out of the Sound of Mull today so instead we spent the day exploring more sheltered waters. We had some great sightings including golden and white-tailed eagles, several different groups of harbour porpoise, common seals, great northern diver and feeding shearwater and gannets. We also stopped on the Isle of Carna, Loch Sunart, and found an incredible diversity of marine invertebrates beneath the pontoon! All sorts of weird and wonderful urchins, starfish, anemones and soft corals! :-)
Today's lunch break! Scanning for porpoise, seals and otters and looking for marine life under the pontoon on Carna, Loch Sunart :-)
Wildlife Adventure - 16th September 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers – 16th of September 2012. An amazing start to the 4 hour trip today, as skipper Popz was half way through his introductory talk an otter popped up right beside Sula Beag! The sightings continued with 2 harbour porpoise amongst a group of feeding shearwater and we also had brilliant views of a white-tailed eagle flying low across the sea in strong winds. Can anyone guess what bird we are impersonating in the group photo today?! :-)
Wildlife Adventure - 14th September 2012
Wildlife Adventure Passengers 14/09/12 - Strong winds today restricted us to more sheltered waters and we managed to get a brief view of some harbour porpoise along with good numbers of common and grey seals. A phalarope species was a big highlight on the bird front which is a small delicate wader that is quite scarce in British waters. Gannets feeding and small groups of shearwater were seen gearing up for their 10,000 mile migration down to waters off South America. A great skua also seen patrolling the outskirts of Tobermory harbour. The dramatic waterfalls and a few rainbows added to the stunning landscapes today.
Whalewatch Explorer - 13th September 2012
Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 13th of September 2012. Another day spent searching Loch Sunart and Mull’s sheltered coasts for wildlife. We had some great sightings along the way including white-tailed eagles but the highlight has to be (after 6 hours of wind and rain!) a MINKE WHALE!!! It was foraging hard among a feeding frenzy of gannets, shearwaters, kittiwakes and auks. Skipper Popz reckons it was one of his best whale sightings of the whole season, an incredible encounter! :-)
Loch Sunart Explorer - 11th September 2012
Loch Sunart Explorer passengers – 11th of September 2012. A Whalewatch with a difference today! The strong westerly wind prevented us from heading out of the Sound of Mull so instead we explored Loch Sunart looking for wildlife among the beautiful scenery of Ardnamurchan and Morvern. It was great to have Debby Thorne onboard from the RSPB and the eagles did not disappoint! We saw all 4 members of the local white-tailed eagle family and even saw one of the juveniles getting dive bombed by a golden eagle with talons out… wow! We also saw an otter (before we even left the pontoon!) and witnessed some of our favourite seabirds tackling the wind with ease. The group photo today is taken on the Isle of Carna, Loch Sunart :-)
Whalewatch Explorer - 10th September 2012
Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 10th of September 2012. Great trip today with the highlight being some fantastic views of a Minke whale! We had great sightings throughout the trip with our local white-tailed eagles showing well and, a first for us, views of a white-tailed over Coll which took us by surprise! We also saw lots of harbour porpoise, common and grey seals, great and Arctic skuas, kittiwakes, gannets, shearwaters, fulmars, guillemots and razorbills :-)
Wildlife Adventure - 9th September 2012
Wildlife Adventure Passengers 09/09/12 - The southerly winds today enabled us to find shelter off the north coast of Mull and on the way out we got treated to four golden eagles in flight interacting, including talon grappling and also a newly fledged juvenile fly right above Sula Beag! Common and grey seals were seen in the water as the tides were right up. Gannets, shearwater and kittiwakes were feeding and also a storm petrel moving fast over the water. Andy’s plankton microscope lecture gripped the passengers on board us usual. Tree foliage and bracken starting to turn on the exposed shoreline on Mull, autumn is arriving!
Whalewatch Explorer - 8th September 2012
Whalewatch Explorer passengers - 8th of September 2012. Great to be back out at sea after a few days ashore and within 20 minutes of leaving Tobermory we were greeted by a harbour porpoise and 3 white-tailed eagles! We also saw a Minke whale which was busy foraging hard and enjoyed the sunshine as we sat watching the curious seals during our lunch break! Also great skuas, Manx shearwaters, kittiwakes, fulmars, storm petrel and gannets to name a few of our other sightings... :-)
Wildlife Adventure - 5th September 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers 05/09/12 - The wind had dropped for the days trip as we tackled the swells to get brief views of a small group of Harbour Porpoise. A Great Skua came to us and circled the boat showing very well in the crisp light. Gannets and Shearwater also viewed as well as both species of Eagle including a young fledged Golden Eagle showing large amounts of white on its plumage. A visit to the Seals as well with a healthy number of Commons hauled out on the rocks. Lovely sunshine for the second half of the trip.
Ecocruz - 4th September 2012
Lovely wee Ecocruz to start the day! As usual the white-tailed eagles stole the show... we had spectacular views of them as one of the adult birds knocked a gannet out of the sky right in front of us! We later saw the 2 juveniles and heard them calling to their parents. Finally on our way back home to Tobermory we saw one of the adults carrying prey getting harassed by gulls.... wow! :-)
Whalewatch Explorer - 3rd September 2012
Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 3rd of September 2012. A wild and wet trip today with some serious weather brewing out at sea! It was amazing to watch it coming in across the Small Isles. But we made the most of it and visited one of our favourite beaches, Sanna Bay on Ardnamurchan. We also found lots of feeding gannets, Manx shearwaters, auks and kittiwakes which was very exciting but saw no bigger beasties among them this time! :-)
Wildlife Adventure – 2nd of September
Wildlife Adventure passengers – 2nd of September 2012. Fantastic views of both adult and juvenile white-tailed eagles in flight today along with common & grey seals, a mink(!), gannets, guillemots, razorbills, shearwaters and fulmars. As usual Andy Tait also found us LOTS of tiny beasties under the microscope from our plankton sample, here he is holding up the plankton net! :-)
Amazing Porpoise!! Wildlife Adventure - 31st of August 2012
Wildlife Adventure passengers - 31st of August 2012. Phenomenal harbour porpoise encounter today with a group of around 10 animals, including some juveniles, swimming around the boat for about 15 minutes as we sat drifting! We thought they'd left but they kept coming back whizzing passed Sula Beag and even turned on their side looking up at us! Definitely worth the putting up with the rain! Also white-tailed eagles, common seals and lots of Manx shearwater :-)
Harbour Porpoise in the rain, one of many that swam under and around the boat today on our Wildlife Adventure ;-)
Andy Tait's fabulous footage of the special encounter can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXPVTYQFXOw&list=UULZZwkWdIZIvpHrAuXNNWow&index=1&feature=plcp
|
|
