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.
Tuesday 17th June, 2008
Anchorage: Loch Moidart
Position: 56°47.200 N 005°50.200 W
Distance surveyed: 30nm
Welcome to our new volunteers – Vanessa, Tom, Dale and Regina. from America, and Jackie and Gordon from Cumbria, onboard Silurian for the third time (welcome back!) – from this trip’s crew, skipper Dave, first mate Steve and Susie Science.
Tipping with rain yesterday, and still doing the rain thing this morning. By the time we set sail, it had cleared up, and a very bonny sail round Ardnamurchan was accompanied by all manner of weather – cold and rainy, warm and sunny, chilly and windy, all to the backdrop of stunning Hebridean scenery.
It all worked out better than the forecast had suggested. All held onto their stomachs despite the big swells round Ardnamurchan (although the odd precautionary bucket was handed round, but not used). However, it wasn’t great sighting conditions. Tom spotted a porpoise, but the hydrophone had to do the rest. Lots of seabirds though, including a great display by the diving gannet circus.
We were into Loch Moidart in the evening, to a beautiful luminous light across the hills and Castle Tioram, and a great dinner of cottage pie. It was still light when we took the dinghy across for a ramble round the castle at 10pm – midsummer in Scotland.
Anglo-American cultural confusion of the day: round orange plastic thing in the water: we say ‘boy’ they say ‘booey’.
# posted by HWDT @ 7:40 AM
