Location: Erraid Sound, Mull
Position:
Distance travelled: 58nm

This morning we were blessed with calm seas AND the sun shining on the same day!! Once the crew had recovered from this shock we ventured forth from Loch Tarbert into the waters separating Colonsay and Jura. Though sighting conditions were good, we didn’t get to see much, unless you count the sight of chicken legs on deck. Once we recovered from the blinding glare, we headed north towards the Ross of Mull, along the way a minke whale was sighted – though it seemed more interested in feeding than checking us out. As what little wind there was dropped, we passed between two mini-seamounts and the hydrophone went crazy with porpoise detections and we got to see a few of them at the surface too.

A round of teas/coffees and Stephanie’s excellent chocolate-chip cookies under our belt and we decided to take advantage of the conditions and stay out as long as possible. The anchor didn’t go down until 9pm close to the Sound of Iona - the crew tired, a touch sunkist but in high spirits after a beautiful day and a stunning sunset. We enjoyed a meal of Stalin Pie, followed by cheese and biscuits (and cookies for those who hadn’t gorged themselves earlier on). The forecast for tomorrow is good, so we sleep tonight with hopes of lots of sightings and there might even be a misguided swimming trip in the morning.

Cormac Booth (in-house science geek)