Position: Oronsay, Colonsay
Weather: Calm seas and sunny skies
Distance travelled: 45 nautical miles

Monday 8th August started with a beautiful dawn in the sheltered mooring of Loch Spelve. The surface of the loch was mirror like with the majestic hills of Mull as a backdrop to statuesque herons fishing by the shore. With little wind, the Silurian motored through the narrow entrance to Loch Spelve into the Firth of Lorn and travelled south-west towards the open ocean. With the islands of Seil and Luing on the portside of the boat and the misty Paps of Jura in the distance, the crew could be excused if the scenery distracted from the business of cetacean spotting. However, several groups of harbour porpoises were recorded, including an adult with calf. Travelling westwards and out towards the island of Colonsay, the cetacean contacts became more infrequent, but there were plenty of seals and birds to keep the observers interested. Skuas pirated food from helpless gulls, storm petrels danced across the sea surface and shearwaters glided effortlessly inches from the swell.

Beyond Colonsay, just as the crew were beginning to think the observations were finished for the day, the unmistakable dorsal fin of a Risso’s dolphin appeared off the starboard bow. For the next hour or so the Silurian shadowed the cautious but unconcerned dolphin. A predictable pattern of six ‘breaths’ followed by a dive of perhaps five minutes gave everyone on board the chance to marvel at and photograph this lovely animal. As Silurian turned away from the dolphin to continue the survey, a basking shark was spotted, gliding through the water with dorsal fin and tail showing and gaping mouth filtering plankton.

Finally, after a delightful return journey back towards the sun drenched island of Jura under the watchful eyes of curious seals, the Silurian was anchored into a sheltered bay near Oronsay.

Log by: Ian