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!
Sammy’s Back!
July 27th, 2009Grab your binoculars and head to the coast for National Whale & Dolphin Watch 2009
July 16th, 2009It’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.
Mixed Weather But Dolphins Didn’t Mind
July 6th, 2009The day started fine with sunshine and flat calm seas. Porpoises were sighted around Longa Island, some with calves. As the tide was dropping rapidly towards midday the sky blackened and the thunder rumbled as we watched a storm brewing over the Torridon mountain range. The odd flash of lightening showed brilliantly from out at sea. The rain came and went and the sea changed from rough to mirror calm in the space of ten minutes, this revealed a pod of very active bottlenose dolphins within the loch.
They were actively feeding along the sand bank, some showing off their trophy fish, on this occasion mackerel. At least one calf shadowed by its mother was present in the pod of approximately 15 individuals.
Basking Sharks and Ocean Sunfish are Back!
July 2nd, 2009We start the day with fine, warm and sunny conditions, however as predicted the rain clouds gathered and by mid afternoon it started to pour! However this sudden downpour didn’t deter our passengers who were treated to our first sighting, this season, of both a basking shark and an ocean sunfish. We had received a report of a basking shark just off the pier in the harbour area on Tuesday night at about 10.30pm so we weren’t too surprised to spot our first this season during one of our cruises today. We watched the 4 metre fish feeding close to Big Sand Beach for a few minutes before we lost it in the heavy rain.
First Basking Shark of the Season
As we continued on our course we thought we had sighted a second basking shark but taking a closer look through our binoculars we realised it was in fact another first for the season the ocean sunfish. We first recorded this elusive fish in Gairloch way back in 2004 and we have continued to see them every year since. An unusual looking fish approximately 1 metre in diameter was seen laying at the surface before diving down into deeper water.
First ocean sunfish of the season
Sunny Days and Sensational Sunsets….
June 26th, 2009Yet another warm sunny day, with more calm seas and excellent sightings during our survey cruises today including common dolphins and several small pods of harbour porpoise accompanying their newborn calves. The days have been long and for those with the patience to sit, wait and watch the sunsets this week have been pretty spectacular…..
Sunset over Skye
Whales, Dolphins and Suncream!
June 24th, 2009Today started well with flat calm seas and glorious sunshine and things just got better from there. Amid the mirror-like water we spotted a pod of around 60 common dolphins and they treated us to a spectacular display of their acrobatic ability. Could it get any better? Yes it could, as an adult minke whale appeared on queue just minutes later, closely followed by our first pod of harbour porpoise of the day which included two very young calves. All this and it’s not even lunchtime!
Common Dolphin just breaking the surface
SAVE THE WHALE WEEK
June 22nd, 2009Passengers on our cruises during the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society Save the Whale Week were asked to wear something RED to show their support for the campaign and they certainly did just that on our first cruise of the week with one of our passengers arriving in his pyjamas! For every passengers that wore something RED we donated £5 from the cost of their ticket to the campaign.
A big THANK YOU to everyone that supported us and we’ll bring you an update on the total raised really soon!
To support the “Stop Whaling” Campaign go to www.porpoise-gairloch.co.uk and click on the link to sign the petition.
Gairloch Marine Life Cruises raising money for Save the Whale Week