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.
Location: Gott Bay, Tiree
Position: 56’ 30.7 N 006’ 48.0 W
Day how many? I think none of us really realise any more… we’re in real holiday mode here – days and dates have been forgotten for the rhythm of being on the water, on watch, looking for birds and beasts, the, off watch moving from tea breaks to meal time and washing up duty…
Today we saw a Minke Whale, a wonderful beast which puffed and blowed alongside us and graced us with 10 minutes of its company. Other than that, not much was sighted – some harbour porpoises and a seal or two. Laura also saw a 2nd Minke whale from the crow’s nest where she spent most of the afternoon, but unfortunately it was not near enough for the rest of us to see.
We’ve anchored in Tiree for the evening, and the trip in from the Western side of Coll through the Gunna Sound was magnificent. There was a tremendous welcome from about 5 000 shags, which fish off the rocks on either side of the sound. (Level of humour on the boat “This is the place to come if you want a shag”)
Despite the fact that the day was pretty grey and we didn’t see much of the sun, many of us are quite red faced this evening, mainly due to the force 3-4 breeze. Best of all, we didn’t have even 5 minutes of rain!
A visit to Tiree CoOp store topped us up with our alcohol content for the next few days, in the form of wine, whisky and beer as well as more vital items such as sugar for our tea!
The cooking today must be complimented – in the early part of the day Mike played a blinder to supply is with very welcome mid-morning brownies and lunchtime mince & vegetable stew. This evening Phil made a wonderful chicken-in-red wine and pasta dish, and Stephen supplied a superb second course of Lanarkshire Blue Cheese (which of course we ate with Glenn’s famous oatcakes). Conversation revolved around the meanings of various nautical terms (meaning of bow or stern anyone?) and a long discussion on natural body care products. Hmm…
Still, we’re all still talking to each other, we’re all still laughing together, and the stories are getting more interesting and the jokes more daring as we get to know one another better. Now all we need is to find a method to see or hear these rugby matches. (France beaten by Argentina, now that’s one I’d like to have seen…)
Madeleine (HWDT volunteer)
# posted by HWDT @ 4:52 AM
