A fantastic day!!!

We left early from Gairloch, after a few days of rain, high winds and engine trouble. For the first time in the week the sea was calm and despite the low mist slightly obscuring our vision we all had high hopes of getting some of our first sightings.

As early as the first watch some of us had spotted Porpoises, although they only stuck around for a few minutes we had high hopes for more!!! Volunteer crew took to both the crow’s nest and the bow, adding to our spotting power and by 11am we found ourselves in amongst a group of three fantastic Minke Whales!! Our patience had been rewarded!! They came brilliantly close to us, and after watching them for about half an hour they treated us to lunge feeding! Awesome!!!!!!!

All of us were riding high, and within less than an hour we came across what we briefly mistook for a pair of Porpoises, although on closer inspection we realised it was a beautiful Basking Shark! We stayed with it for a while, trying to get some mug shots before again moving on. We quickly came across yet another wee guy, his nose peaking out of the water as he fed with his stunning white mouth wide open and visible under the water.

What a lucky day!! But there was even more in store! Again, with little time to recover from the excitement of the previous sightings we saw a huge fin! It was a beast of a Basking Shark, almost double the size of the others sighted. He swam round the boat in his docile manner, letting us get some awesome snaps of his dorsal fin.

But, believe it or not, the best was yet to come!!! All of a sudden we spotted another three Basking Sharks……………..and then a Minke Whale………………..and then some Porpoises……………followed by more Minkes………………….some more Basking Sharks………….. they just kept on coming!! The Minkes were barely twenty metres away and lunge feeding too! Amazing!! All in all there were three Minkes, but it really did seem like more, they were popping up here, there and everywhere before some deep diving and surprising us again for more fantastic views. Awesome!!!!!!

With everyone completely satisfied, we continued forward. We headed back towards Skye, and eventually into the Sound of Raasay where we were to anchor for the night. In the final stretches of the day the sun came out, the icing on the cake for a breathtaking day!

Log by Fiona