Whalewatch Explorer - 29th June 2013

Whalewatch Explorer passengers 29/06/13 - The highlight for today's wet and windy trip was a Basking Shark breaching clean out of the water on two occasions! Harbour Porpoise surfacing close by including a juvenile and a tiny calf. White-ta...iled Eagles showing off their 'barn doors' wingspan. Gannets and Shearwater also seen riding the sea breeze and Arctic and Great Skuas patrolling the area. A beach landing was taken for lunch among the Common and Grey Seals.

 

 

Wildlife Adventure - 28th June 2013

Wildlife Adventure passengers – 28th of June 2013. Superb views of a group of 4 harbour porpoise surfing in the waves today, they were showing very well so we all got to see their faces out of the water! Also an adult and chick white-tailed eagle, over 30 common seals with several pups, 4 Arctic skuas and feeding shearwaters, kittiwakes and gannets

 

 

Whalewatch Explorer - 27th June 2013

Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 27th of June 2013. Some great sightings today despite the thick fog! We had a group of around 10 common dolphins bow riding and playing around us, lovely views of porpoise with a tiny calf, common seals with pups, a white-tailed eagle with chick, storm petrels, Arctic skua, fulmar flybys and feeding shearwater

 

 

 

Wildlife Adventure - 26th June 2013

Wildlife Adventure passengers 26/06 - Overcast skies and calm seas made for good condition's for today's trip with harbour porpoise showing well in one of their hot spots. White-tailed eagle in flight dominating the sky with another bird seen teaching its 9 week old chick how to feed. Plunging gannets and groups of shearwater along with puffins and other auks also seen.

Whalewatch Explorer - 24th June

 

Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 24th of June 2013. Superb common dolphin sighting today with around 12 animals including some juveniles playing around Sula Beag. We also had close views of a basking shark feeding at the surface and lovely views of very young common seal pups in the water being supported by their mums! Bird highlights include storm petrels, shearwaters, feeding terns and 2 white-tailed eagles flying over the boat :)

 

Wildlife Adventure - 23rd June

Wildlife Adventure passengers – 23rd of June 2013. A windy and wet day on Mull so we stayed in sheltered waters and found a large colony of around 20 common seals hauled out on the rocks, a great sighting of 2 porpoise surfing in the waves and plenty of seabirds including close views of gannets, shearwaters, kittiwakes and guillemots

Whalewatch Explorer - 22nd June

Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 22nd of June 2013. Within an hour of leaving Tobermory we saw a minke whale, a white-tailed eagle fishing and had a very close porpoise encounter! Other highlights included seeing several hundreds of shearwaters forming large rafts, storm petrels, bonxies and another superb porpoise association to finish with around 15 swimming around us…. oh and a wee visit to Muck’s tea room!

Wildlife Adventure - 21st June

Wildlife Adventure passengers 21/06 - Harbour porpoise greeted us 5 minutes in and amazing raptor action later on with two white-tailed eagles overhead and a near fully grown eaglet in view. Common seals out in the exposed sea along with more porpoise. Gannets, shearwater and an arctic skua also enjoyed by all on board.

Whalewatch Explorer - 20th June 2013

Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 20th of June 2013. Wet and rather wild yesterday but that did not stop us! We found surfing harbour porpoise, white-tailed eagles, lots of common and grey seals hauled out at the Cairns of Coll and had some superb close encounters with some of our favourite seabirds including storm petrels, great skuas and several fulmars circling Sula Beag.

 

 

Also, huge congratulations from all at SLS to volunteer Eryn who found out her Biology degree result whilst out at sea yesterday spotting porpoise! What an incredible result and thanks for all your help over the last 2 weeks aboard :-)

Wildlife Adventure - 19th June 2013

Wildlife Adventure passengers – 19th of June 2013. A jam-packed 4 hours! Two minke whale sightings, a white-tailed eagle family, common seals and numerous porpoise including one which swam right alongside Sula Beag turning on its side to look up at us!

 

 

Lifeboat Training Exercise - 18th June 2013

We did a training exercise with Tobermory Lifeboat tonight - great experience and superb crew, thanks guys

Whalewatch Explorer - 18th June 2013

Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 18th of June 2013. Minke whale, common dolphins and a breaching basking shark…. what a day!! Also several harbour porpoise sightings, a white-tailed eagle family, bonxie, storm petrel and so many curious seals as we ate our lunch at the Cairns

Basking Shark - 11th June 2013

Very excited for tomorrow's Whalewatch Explorer! This basking shark was one of 4 spotted on the 11th of June, fingers crossed for more sightings this week!

Minke Whale - 10th June

Minke whale seen on the 10th of June, 2013. We think we recognise this whale from last summer with those very distinctive marks behind the dorsal fin, we'll be sure to look out for this individual again!

Whalewatch Explorer - 15th June

Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 15th of June 2013. Fantastic sightings today with 3 MINKE WHALES!! We sat watching and listening to them surface around us for half an hour with the engines off, just magic! Also porpoise, seals at the beautiful Cairns of Coll where we stopped for lunch, all 3 members of our local white-tailed eagle family, a golden eagle getting mobbed by crows, bonxies and storm petrels :)

 

 

Wildlife Adventure - 14th June

Wildlife Adventure passengers – 14th of June 2013. The eagles stole the show today with fantastic views of both white-tailed and golden eagles. The goldies were soaring above Sula Beag as we watched one getting mobbed by a buzzard, that’s when you can really appreciate how big they are! We also saw several hurries of feeding gannets, kittiwakes and auks which is always an exciting sight. Thankfully the rain held off for us… until we took the group photo!!

Whalewatch Explorer - 13th June

Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 13th of June 2013. Superb views of harbour porpoise behaving like dolphins today as they cruised by us and played in our wake! We stopped at a sunny Cairns of Coll for our lunch break amongst the seals and had great sightings of white-tailed eagles, storm petrels, Actic skua, shearwaters, terns and witnessed a fantastic fight between 2 bonxies and a black-backed gull right over our heads.

 

 

Wildlife Adventure - 12th June

Wildlife Adventure Passengers 12/06/13 09:30 - Nice views of Harbour Porpoise in some of their traditional sites this morning. The huge profile of a White-tailed Eagle also seen in flight patrolling its territory with its chick seen constantly flapping its wings to strengthen its flight muscles. A Golden Eagle soaring over the higher ground and sea birds viewed included Gannets, Shearwater, Skuas, Auks and Kittiwakes. Common and Grey Seals seen in the open sea and hauled out.

 

Wildlife Adventure Passengers 12/06/13 14:00 - The Harbour Porpoise were continuing to show well in the afternoons trip with small groups surfacing close by. A White-Tailed Eagle seen perched in one of his usual vantage points always busy viewing for prey and territory intruders along with preening his feathers which need to be in pristine condition for hunting. Gannet numbers are increasing and a Great Skua was seen powering through the moderate winds. Also Kittiwakes, Puffins, Guillemots and Seals bottling in the open sea.



 

Whalewatch Explorer - 11th June 2013

Whalewatch explorer passengers 11/06/13 - Stronger winds, rain and lower temperatures didnt stop the wildlife sightings as we had great views of basking sharks including some breaching clean out of the water! We also got a group of 40 plus common dolphins bow riding and interacting. Harbour porpoise and seals seen and amazing views of several storm petrels. White-tailed eagle, shearwater, gannets, auks, terns and a great skua stealing a kittiwakes catch right overhead. All seen in just seven hours!

Whalewatch Explorer - 10th June 2013

Whalewatch Explorer passengers 10/06/13 - The glorious sunshine continues as we headed out to our main grounds today getting rewarded with 2 Minke whales and a brief basking shark seen by a small few on board. Encouraging feeding today from gannets, shearwater, kittiwakes and terns. Also white-tailed eagle, storm petrels seals and skuas. Great day at sea!

Wildlife Adventure - 9th June 2013

Wildlife Adventure passengers – 9th of June 2013. Perfect flat calm conditions meant we were spotting harbour porpoise throughout the trip from miles away! Also fantastic views of a white-tailed eagle, seals, huge raft of shearwaters resting on a glassy sea as well as lots of gannets, auks and kittiwakes.

 

 

White tailed sea eagle fishing - 8th June 2013

Great shot taken by Chris Hill on the Whalewatch Explorer of a white-tailed eagle fishing right beside us! The fish had a lucky escape this time... :-)

 

 

Whalewatch Explorer - 8th June 2013

Whalewatch Explorer passengers - 8th of June 2013. Incredible encounter today with a family group of COMMON DOLPHINS playing around the boat. They had lots of juveniles amongst them, great to see! Another huge highlight was a white-tailed eagle fishing in flat calm conditions right beside us. Also porpoise, bonxie, storm petrel, common and grey seals and a few folk swimming during our lunch break at the Cairns!

 

 

Whalewatch Explorer - 6th June

Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 6th of June 2013. At least two MINKE WHALES today! Popz stopped on a good spot and we sat and listened in the excellent conditions and sure enough heard a whale blow upwind of us before we saw it, just as he said we would! Also COMMON DOLPHINS, harbour porpoise, Arctic skua, bonxie, gannets, shearwater, fulmar, common and grey seals and a white-tailed eagle sitting on a freshly killed gull. Another superb day at sea : )

Wildlife Adventure - 5th June

Wildlife Adventure passengers – 5th of June 2013. Flat, calm and sunny again today with amazing visibility. The larger beasties were hiding from us but other wildlife was on form with stunning views of a pair of golden eagles flying in the thermals, shearwaters, gannets, puffins, common and grey seals and a couple of sneaky porpoise!

Whalewatch Explorer - 4th June

Whalewatch Explorer passengers - 4th of June 2013. One of those special days at sea with at least 2 minke whales including our old friend of now 11 seasons.... Knobble!! So great to see Knobble back in our patch and hopefully will be the first of many sightings to come! Also common dolphins, porpoise, white-tailed eagle, storm petrels, a swift, Arctic skua all in perfect flat calm conditions, magic :)

Whalewatch Explorer - 3rd June

Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 3rd of June 2013. Lovely sighting of a MINKE WHALE this morning surfacing along a tide line. Other highlights included a white-tailed eagle, porpoise, large numbers of common and grey seals at the bluebell covered Cairns of Coll, bonxies following the boat, fulmar flybys, storm petrel and gannets :)

Our lunchtime landing at the Cairns of Coll.

Wildlife Adventure - 2nd June

Wildlife Adventure passengers, 02-06-13 - The highlight was a minke whale showing well giving all on board a great view of the mammal. Also superb close eagle action with a pair of golden eagles chasing away a herring gull from their territory before both eagles talon grappling in flight. The larger white-tailed eagle also seen along with gannets, shearwater, kittiwakes and auks. Common seals were hauled out on the shoreline as they prepare for the pupping season.

 

 

Springwatch - 1st June 2013

Out filming our local white-tailed eagles with RSPB’s Dave Sexton and BBC Springwatch's Iolo Williams for a couple of hours this evening. We also had porpoise and a minke whale!

 

 

 

 

Whalewatch Explorer - 1st June 2013

Whalewatch Explorer passengers - 1st of June 2013. The closest MINKE WHALE encounter of the year so far! The animal surfaced three times off our bow giving us great views. Also porpoise, white-tailed eagles, a distant goldie, common and grey seals, storm petrels, bonxie and lunch at the Cairns!

 

Today's close encounter with a Minke! 1st of June 2013

 

 

 

Wildlife Adventure - 31st May

Wildlife Adventure passengers – 31st of May 2013. Great start to the trip with a couple of harbour porpoise within the first 5 minutes! We also had lovely views of white-tailed eagles, common and grey seals, puffin, shearwaters, kittiwakes, Arctic and great skua and beautiful sunshine

 

 

Whalewatch Explorer - 30th May 2013

Whalewatch Explorer passengers – 30th of May 2013. Our first COMMON DOLPHINS of the season!! They stayed with us for a long time bow riding and playing around us. Also porpoise, white-tailed eagle, a storm petrel and the beautiful Cairns of Coll with common and grey seals. Andy and Karen also spotted a very sneaky minke whale, it only surfaced once so unfortunately the rest of us missed it but we believe them!

 

 

Basking sharks found during our Acuatours charter!

Basking sharks found last night by our week long photography group @Acuatours - first pic, can you see the gentle giant? Welcome back big beasties!

 

 

Breaching porpoise - 29th May

Amazing photo taken by Alexa Kershaw of a breaching harbour porpoise, a very rare sight and incredible to capture it on camera! Thank you Alexa, great to have you aboard

Wildlife Adventure - 29th August 2013

Wildlife Adventure passengers – 29th of May 2013, 9.30am. Fantastic views of white-tailed eagles, several porpoise sightings, common seals, a distant golden eagle and a sneaky MINKE WHALE!

Wildlife Adventure passengers – 29th of May 2013, 2pm. More great sightings on this afternoon's trip… an incredible white-tailed eagle just metres from the boat getting mobbed by gulls, harbour porpoise, common seals and plenty of seabirds including puffins, shearwaters, gannets, kittiwakes all in beautiful sunshine!

Whalewatch Explorer - 28th May 2013

Whalewatch Explorer passengers - 28th of May 2013. Some brilliant sightings today.... a sneaky MINKE WHALE, numerous harbour porpoise and white-tailed eagles! We also visited the Isle of Muck for the first time this year and listened to corncrakes as we ate our carrot cake in the sunshine!