Pirate Day..Burnesssan to Isle of Rhum

A fantastic day had on the high seas! We headed out of Bunnessan, north past Staffa (a geologists dream!) and on to the Treshnish Isles. Harbour porpoise detections came in thick and fast totaling 45 through the day, with a 11 sightings from the surface totaling 13 animals sighted. A false alarm on the hydrophone had us all on red alert for dolphins but it turned out to be more probably a variant of ADD.

Approaching Muck there was an excited call of “Sighting” from Lynsey on the left side of the mast as a common dolphin was spotted porpoising towards the boat. Within the space of a few minutes, the Silurian was surrounded by common dolphins bow riding and porpoising alongside the boat so the survey status was quickly switched to ‘With Whales’ so the entire team made their way to the bow to enjoy the spectacle. The pod was estimated to contain around 25 individuals with a large number of clicks and whistles also detected on the hydrophone. The pod associated with the boat for around 20 minutes before moving on. Back on effort we progressed towards our anchorage for the night.

On arrival in Rum excitement picked up as sightings of porpoises were being recorded virtually every minute with a possible but unconfirmed bottlenose dolphin sighting from the helm.

Once the anchor was down, we took the opportunity to explore the shore and get a much needed shower. Matt and Lynsey took off to the “Otter hide”. From there an otter was spotted but the main highlight was the sighting of two Minke Whales from the shore line, with two or three more porpoises.

Of course today was ‘pirate day’ with the full complement of the boat turned out in makeshift pirate attire and weaponry and accompanied by a fearsome looking parrot fashioned from recycling bin contents. The day concluded with a session of walking the plank for a number of the crew and volunteers resulting in a plunge in the exceptionally refreshing waters of the anchorage, followed by a splendid meal and sharing of pirate tales and sea shanties.

(Blog written as a colllective effort from all volunteers)