Location: Gott Bay, Tiree
Position:
Distance traveled: 42nm

Our ninth day at sea started off on a high following the sun shine of the day before. The first hour did not disappoint and Mario and Alan spotted six basking sharks before 10am – full grown ones at last!! However, as soon as this shark-fest was over the weather turned and for eight hours there was nothing but freezing fog and drizzle. Morale took a bit of a nose dive as no sightings came in – even a nosey seal or some snapping shrimp on the hydrophone would have been welcomed. By 6pm I speak for myself by saying that I was not amused. About to go back on watch in the cold and fog, not able to see more than 100 meters around, I was not optimistic – but more fool me. A sighting at the end of June and Stephanie’s watch turned out to be common dolphins, our first sighting and a great one with two adults and a calf leaping and bow-riding. There followed a flurry of camcorder action and hurrying from one side of the boat to the other. In an appreciated gesture, following the dolphins led us out of the fog and with the final watch approaching and the smells of dinner wafting up form below deck my mood began to improve. With most people still on deck in case of more dolphin sightings Louise and I took up our watch. After 15 minutes we were heading into port at Tiree and I was staring at the sea just off the deck. Suddenly and without warning a huge dark grey animal leapt vertically out of the calm waters about 50 meters away from the boat. The usual shout of “sighting” was replaced with astonished pointing and a gargled scream. Turning I saw that June, sitting on the deck behind me, was doing much the same. We were soon reassured that what we had seen was a basking shark breaching, a rare sight that may be linked to mating behaviour. With everyone’s attention on the spot the shark did not disappoint and breach fully once more before disappearing from view. You’ll have to trust me when I say that it was one of the most awesome sights I have ever seen. I had started the trip by saying I hoped to see a basking shark, but one breaching full out of the water right in front of me was almost showing off…. Having learnt a valuable lesson in the importance of tenacity in wildlife watching and having given myself a mental slap on the wrist for being so mardy and undeserving during the day, I strained my eyes searching the sea for the next hour until watch came to an end. Nothing else came of our efforts, but a lot of very happy earthwatchers sat down for dinner that evening. Having docked in Tiree a group of us decided to go ashore (for a drink of course!), but nearly had to start a whole new kind of survey when we lost Stephanie and Mario on the dark, island roads. Safety reunited we headed back to Silurian and another of Cormac’s masterful carrot cakes (the recipe has been handed out to grateful recipients). In discussing tomorrow’s final day at sea we decided that our perfect itinerary would include sightings of killer whales, another minke or two, a sea eagle and an otter. Anything’s possible!

Michelle (Earthwatch Volunteer 2007)

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)

Location: West Loch Tarbert, Jura
Position: 55 N 57.920 005 W 54.624
Distance traveled: 46nm

Today at least was a brighter day. Nigel took June and Cormac up the loch in the dingy as they had missed the trip the previous evening. We left our sheltered sun drenched anchorage in the stark beauty of West Loch Tarbert to find a modest swell and fairly big waves. Our transect lines took us offshore west of Colonsay. As we headed further out, we realised that the sea conditions were no longer good for surveying although the wind, gusting to 30mph provided exciting sailing with us reaching a speed of some 8.5 knots as we headed for deep water. Estimates showed if we had kept a straight course Nova Scotia was less than 2,000 miles ahead!
Sightings were rare but did include two basking sharks, a young one and the other about 5 metres. We had plenty of bird sightings including several storm petrels, dancing above the waves.
The intention was to spend the night moored in the small harbour at Colonsay however the winds and swell were such that it would have resulted in a sleepless night, so Skip made the decision to head back to West Loch Tarbet, another quick passage driven by the winds saw us anchor in the first quiet bay along with a yacht, fishing boat and another vessel which, as night fell, had us all guessing as to what it purpose was, first glance it looked to be fishing but who knows as to what it was really about.
Whilst Nigel took the girls ashore for a walk up to a raised beach, Alan caught a couple more mackerel. Whilst ashore, Laura demonstrated how not to approach a ‘green-eye’ and nearly lost her wellies, then showed the volunteers how not to push a dingy away from the shore, still all returned safely. Tiredness resulted in a good nights sleep for all despite the swell still rocking the boat even in our sheltered anchorage.

Alan (Earthwatch Volunteer 2007)

Location: West Loch Tarbert, Jura
Position: 55 N 57.920 005 W 54.624
Distance traveled: 51nm

Today’s blog is written by a reluctant Mario, our volunteer from Argentina. He is worried that his English is ‘no good’ but we think he is doing great! So here goes….

‘Today we were starting in fine weather but 1 hour later it turned rough. Therefore was in this moment when we saw the best sighting in the day because we saw basking shark. We went offshore at 9 am from Port Ellen in zigsag between Isle of Islay and Isle of Gigha, In the first watch we saw 1 small basking shark and then a few harbour porpoise the rest the day only could see 1 seal and birds, Alan saw 1 Storm Petrel than with basking shark are rarely species in the zone.
Finally we went up the sound of Islay to Loch Tarbert on Jura, one landscape scenic with cool wind, one part of the group was working on Louise’s meal and the rest took the dinghy we saw red deer and one seal and many herons. The skipper scaled the cliff in order to get an antler for Laura. Alan caught one fish but return it to the water.
Finally, we had a delicious dinner and one nice dessert made by Cormac’.

Earthwatch Volunteer Mario

Location: Port Ellen, Isle of Islay
Position: 55 N 37.645 006 W 11.347
Distance travelled: 0nm

It certainly doesn’t feel like August. There is a chill in the air and the forecast remains unsettled. Today’s survey was cancelled due to strong wind warnings and extremely low visibility. But looking on the bright side, there are worse places to be storm-bound than Islay, otherwise known as the ‘Whisky Isle’. However, it appeared that there was only one thing on most people’s minds…….hot showers. So an otherwise miserable day was spent sampling the delights of Islay Community Leisure Centre which had hot showers and a sauna. Luxury! Back on board, the rest of the team took the dinghy out into the bay for a spot of fishing. On their way back, they encountered the hungry, resident grey seal of Port Ellen harbour who was keen on sharing Alan’s freshly-caught mackerel with him, and at one point looked as if he would climb on board to get it. The day ended with a noodle-tastic meal cooked by June, our volunteer from Singapore.

Laura (HWDT Sightings Officer)