Location: Port Ellen
Position: 55 N 37' 709 006 W 11' 916
Distance travelled: 57 nm

Today was fairly quiet in that few animals were sighted, which was agitating because for most of the day, the weather gave us perfect conditions. We travelled miles over calm waters from Tayvallich on the Argyll Coast over to Port Ellen on the Isle of Islay.
Following us for most of the way, were fulmars, an impressive seabird that glides over the water with excessive ease, also the magnificent shearwaters, who also showed off to us their fantastic display of aerodynamics.
Harbour porpoises yet again didn’t fail to put in an appearance, letting us glimpse at them as they took breaths of air. Mario’s eagerness to see a whale took him up to the crows nest, where he spent 3 hours continually searching the water for the possibility of a sighting, however, even though he had informed us that 17 was his lucky number, none such luck was had! But nobody was complaining as once again, a fantastic day was had for all on board, made even better by Nigel’s persistent ability to make perfect scrambled egg for a mid morning snack or Michelle’s promise of her sweet potato curry for dinner! (Yeh, it all revolves around food on this ship!!!)

Louise Whiteside (Earthwatch volunteer)