The education team this week embarked on the second trip this year onboard Silurian to visit a school on the Herbridean Island of Jura. After all the hard work spent improving Silurian over the winter, she looked fantastic as she left her weekend mooring at Tayvallich, near Crinan. The sun was out and the wind was behind us providing perfect sailing conditions and good progress was made down the Sound of Jura to Craighouse. A solitary harbour porpoise was also spotted during the voyage!

During the first day on Jura we visited Small Isles Primary School in the afternoon. This session allowed us to introduce ourselves and the work of the Trust to the students, some of which could remember our visit two years previously and were already looking forward to coming onboard Silurian tomorrow. The students also started working on artwork or puzzles to be published in our next newsletter (keep your eyes peeled!). Our second day saw both classes visiting Silurian at Craighouse Pier. After donning their lifejackets students took part in four practical activities relating to life and adaptation in the marine environment. The touch tank was almost overflowing with marine life after local fishermen helped out in the collection of marine invertebrates that included a lobster!
The students learnt a great deal about the fascinating and often strange adaptations of life in the sea. In another activity plankton samples were taken over the side of the boat and planktonic organisms were isolated and identified by students. They learnt about the importance of plant and animal plankton to other organisms and how many marine species have a planktonic stage in their lifecycle. An interactive demonstration of echolocation used by cetaceans was also given using recorded sounds and by listening through our hydrophone. Lastly, but not least, a tour of Silurian was given by our faithful skipper Duncan. The students all enjoyed their time onboard Silurian and didn’t want to leave at the end of the day.

The late afternoon saw Silurian sailing into the night making it into Oban by 11pm. She stayed in Oban until late the following day to make some improvements to the navigational systems onboard before making another evening passage to Tobermory and home! Tobermory looked beautiful with dark blue skies behind the hill and a full set of stars as we approached, which was a fine end to another successful education trip.


Tim Burns, Marine Education Volunteer