Win prizes worth £1,500 with Wild Scotland!

Marking the return of the puffins to the Firth of Forth islands, the Scottish Seabird Centre’s popular mascot, Tammie the Puffin, is embarking on a very special tour across the region to raise awareness of the plight of these amazing seabirds as part of this year’s Watch out for the Puffins.

Puffin numbers have been in decline in many parts of Scotland over recent years – locally the invasion of a 9ft alien plant called tree mallow on the islands of Craigleith and Fidra (owned by the RSPB) has prevented puffins from reaching their burrows to nest leading to a dramatic fall in puffin numbers on islands just off North Berwick.

Over the last five years, the Scottish Seabird Centre’s SOS Puffin campaign has seen a huge volunteer effort help the puffins.

Despite success, SOS Puffin needs to continue. To raise awareness of this and to mark the return of the puffins to the Firth of Forth islands, Tammie will be travelling to four locations across the region on 27 April, plus 4, 11 and 18 May.

Clues to Tammie’s location will be available on www.seabird.org

CLUE NUMBER 1 FOR 27 APRIL – AT THIS LOCATION YOU CAN CREATE A SPLASH!

On finding Tammie and providing the special word, members of the public will win passes for FREE entry to the Scottish Seabird Centre’s award-winning Discovery Centre where they can control the interactive cameras to zoom in on live puffin action.

They will also be entered into a prize draw to win trips with Wild Scotland worth over £1,500! The Scottish Seabird Centre is a member of Wild Scotland, the Scottish nature tourism association. The association encourages everyone to enjoy responsible wildlife-watching and the many other great outdoor activities in Scotland.

Good luck in finding Tammie!

It’s time to get ready for National Whale & Dolphin Watch event organised by Sea Watch Foundation taking place all around the British coastline in August.

This year Scotland’s North-west coast Sea Watch Foundation co-ordination centre Gairloch Marine Wildlife Centre and Cruises will be carrying out vessel and land based surveys between 7 – 15 August which members of the public can join, for further information call 01445 712636.

Every year hundreds of sightings are made of species such as fin whales, minke whales and bottlenose dolphins. These are used by Sea Watch’s scientists to provide a snapshot in time of the numbers and locations of marine mammals (cetaceans). Changes and trends can be monitored, helping to show if current conservation measures are working or if the animals are being affected by factors such as pollution or over-fishing.

To find out more about the watches and about Sea Watch visit www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk The Sea Watch Foundation is a marine conservation and research charity working exclusively in British waters. It has organised the National Whale & Dolphin Watch every year since 2002.

An

Ian assisting WDCS to deploy acoustic equipment

The season has begun and not only do we have the weather to contend with but also a new NATO exercise  is underway in our waters.   We have assisted WDCS deploying C Pod listening devices for their ongoing research.  Also this year we have an underwater acoustic expert ‘Dolphin Whisperer’ who has deployed his latest broadband underwater hydrophone listening device.  This will help him, WDCS and us gather more evidence into the NATO ?????? Of cetaceans.

The season has begun and not only do we have the weather to contend with but also a new NATO exercise is underway in our waters.

NATO exercises begin

We have assisted WDCS deploying acoustic equipment for their ongoing research, this equipment will stay in place for a number of months and data will not be revealed until the pods are bought back in later in the season. Also this year we have an underwater acoustic expert ‘The Dolphin Whisperer’ who we assisted, during his recent visit to Gairloch, with the deployment of his latest ‘realtime’ acoustic underwater monitoring equipment. This new equipment will allow us, with the help of solar panels and a good receiver dish, to listen to the undersea sounds as they happen.

Fans of Atlantic Grey Seals will be pleased to know the much photographed Sammy the Seal returned to Gairloch Harbour earlier this month.  Sammy has been visiting Gairloch Harbour now for at least fourteen years!

Sammy the Seal Returns!

It’s time to get ready for National Whale & Dolphin Watch, a nine-day event organised by Sea Watch Foundation taking place all around the British coastline in July. 

This year Scotland’s  North-west coast Sea Watch Foundation co-ordination centre  Gairloch Marine Wildlife Centre and Cruises  will be carrying out vessel and land based surveys between 18 – 26 July which members of the public can join, for further information call 01445 712636.

Every year hundreds of sightings are made of species such as fin whales, minke whales and bottlenose dolphins.  These are used by Sea Watch’s scientists to provide a snapshot in time of the numbers and locations of marine mammals (cetaceans).  Changes and trends can be monitored, helping to show if current conservation measures are working or if the animals are being affected by factors such as pollution or over-fishing.

To find out more about the watches and about Sea Watch visit www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk The Sea Watch Foundation is a marine conservation and research charity working exclusively in British waters.  It has organised the National Whale & Dolphin Watch every year since 2002.