Location: Loch Sween
Position: 56’01’.785 N 005’35’.498 W
Distance surveyed: 55 nm

What a SAGA!
Well today has felt rather like a wild goose….um I mean …dolphin chase. We set off this morning with all the elements against us it seemed. The breeze soon turned into gusty winds and the showers rapidly turned into rain. However, there was some respite in one of the most unlikely places. As we came up to the entrance of the Gulf of Corryvreckan, the usually confused and turbulent surface waters were flattened out by the slack tide. So in we went following yesterdays track line, interested to investigate whether there was still as much bird and porpoise activity taking place today. And sure enough, the Corryvreckan did not disappoint, the acoustic software was displaying plenty of porpoise detections and the birds appeared to be in the same places they were feeding the day before. On our second circuit of this teeming spot, we learnt that a group of bottlenose dolphins were seen the night before not far away in the Cuan Sound. And so the wild chase began. Phone calls were made to local boat operators, the navigation charts came out and the latest weather updates were jotted down. After some careful re-structuring of the day’s survey, we found a window in the tides, and ventured back up the Sound of Luing. But as I said earlier, the elements were against us this day and our once willing volunteers experienced a real west coast June downpour. Remembering that these poor souls were meant to be enjoying themselves, I finally shouted ‘off effort’ and they gleefully came down and reunited with the teapot. After a long day looking for marine mammals in the rain, the gentle passage up a very calm Loch Sween felt rewarding to all. Still there was a further reward waiting for us when we arrived at our secluded anchorage. An osprey was watching us from its nest only a few hundred metres away from the boat