Most weeks April through October she is either monitoring
the waters of the west coast of Scotland for whales, dolphins, and
porpoises, or serving as a floating classroom for one of the many Argyll
island primary and secondary schools.
Read the
log below to find out what Silurian and her crew have been up to each
week and all about the whales, dolphins and porpoises they spot!
To find out about the latest marine life sightings spotted elsewhere,
click here.
Date: Thursday 17th May 2007
Anchorage: Tobermory, Isle of Mull
Position: 56° 37’.280N 006° 03’.680W
Distance Travelled: 34 NM
Today’s blog comes pre-curry and post-chocolate pudding, which was served on deck with a cup of tea, as we headed for the Cairns of Coll on the last voyage of the trip. Despite the shonky forecast, the morning started brightly and the Cairns of Coll were visible from last night’s mooring at Loch na Droma Buidhe. As we approached the Cairns, mist and cloud were followed by the onset of rain. A quick circuit around the Cairns and we headed back east towards Tobermory. The visibility dropped, the sea state increased to 4 or 5, which was caused by the wind against the tide. We were soon again into calmer waters where we resumed surveying; we motored through the murk and arrived at the pontoons at Tobermory at 14.30. Total sightings for the day: a few porpoises. After cleaning Silurian, including scrubbing the decks, we manoeuvred around the pontoon and out to our mooring, where we are now.
We’re all looking forward to our curry this evening, although it is raining and we will get wet. We’re also looking forward to not having to clean up after our evening meal, or cooking it… Roll on the vegetable pakoras!
Swedish word for the day – ‘indisk restaurang’ meaning ‘indian restaurant’
TOTAL TRIP MILEAGE: 462 NM
TOTAL ANIMALS:
Harbour porpoise: 59
Minke whale: 6
Bottlenose dolphin: 3
Common dolphin: 9
Basking shark: 32
Seal: 18
# posted by HWDT @ 2:34 AM
