Silurian has completed her last survey of 2011 and now sits in Kerrera where she awaits a winter spruce up. The crew and staff at the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust would like to thank all the volunteers who participated in the research this year; we couldn't do it without you. There may not have been too much sunshine but I thoroughly enjoyed my first year on Silurian. From the people I met, to the animals we saw (fin whale and turtle included) and the spectacular Scottish scenery I cannot wait to see what next year brings.

Hope to see you all again in the near future, stay tuned to our website for updates on all things cetacean and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me at biodiversityofficer@hwdt.org

Best wishes to all
Olivia Harries

Anchorage: Tobermory
Distance travelled: 49.2NM

A long perfect sunny day started off at Mallaig. 12 porpoises were sighted and a lone grey seal was spotted cruising around the boat. Everyone got a taste for the Scottish sea today, literally. With waves breaking over the bow of the boat our observers on mast, relay and even our helmsmen were soaked within minutes of being on effort. None of us opted for extra salt on our dinner surprisingly enough. Rick got the worst of the waves and announced to us all after his stint on the mast “note to self, do not leave mouth agape when on mast”, a wise statement indeed…

At Moidart, our intended anchorage, the wind started gusting at over 30 knots; it had been between 25 and 30 knots for most of the day. We revised our plans and headed for Tobermory where we could hang off a mooring for the night. A 4 hour trek was made pleasant with a great sunset over Coll, a game of name a marine animal for every letter of the alphabet and some lemon cake, baked expertly by Emma. Tomorrow will be our last day surveying, this trip was very exciting.

Anchorage: Mallaig
Distance travelled:28.5NM

Today we set off with an objective to survey Loch Hourn solely. The ADDs being used in this particular loch are different to those used elsewhere and Olivia was keen to get some recordings of these particular devices. We zig zagged up and down the loch which was beautiful; the clouds and mist hung over dramatic cliff tops, waterfalls fell from the very summits down into the loch itself and the green velvet mountains were speckled with heather. We saw 4 groups of porpoises and some seals. Success.
We went off effort at 2pm as we came around the headland in the direction of Mallaig. It took us just over two hours to reach our destination. We buried the bow a few times and altogether had quite a ride in the heavy swells. At Mallaig a number of us walked into the town and looked around: not a lot to see. Back to the boat where Olivia gave us a presentation about the state of the total survey and results from previous years. Very informative.

Anchorage: Isle Ornsay
Distance travelled: 31.3NM

Today the sun shone and shone and shone. A beautiful day travelling under the Skye bridge and through Kyle Rhea. The sea was still persistent with whitecaps making the sighting of harbour porpoises difficult however the hydrophone picked up a great number of click trains. We did sight some seals giving us faith in our spotting abilities. We got through our tidal gate in the nick of time and proceeded to Isle Ornsay where we had clung on to a mooring last Wednesday. This time we managed to get ashore and some of us even did some Christmas shopping. We sampled some whitebait and tonka bean pannacotta at the bar and then headed back to the boat for our main course; pasta and bolognaise, yum! Tomorrow we are heading out with a specific survey aim but we won’t give the game away just yet…

Anchorage: Portree
Distance travelled: 16.5NM

We left Portree in the sunshine this morning however this did not last long and the rain soon closed in. We were surveying the sound of Raasay, where the Sperm Whale was spotted last week but the wind picked up so much that in the end we had no choice to turn around and head back to Portree. Gale warnings, force 9/ and 10 were predicted as “soon” so it was decided as a wise choice. More activities were arranged back on the mooring with a competition of “which animal would you like to be”… Rick won with his sea slug egg stream; we were mightily impressed with the skills of this particular being. The activities then became a lot more physical with knot tying competitions, tricks with sticks and compasses and even some contortionist demonstrations by Emma that some of us then attempted to recreate. We listened to the weather forecast with eager ears hoping for a break in the rain and wind as our time on board Silurian slowly disappears and discussions at dinner involved what we would do with some more favourable survey conditions.

We awoke to a weather forecast that suggested the sea conditions were to be less than favourable for surveying so with the group decision made we decided to take a shore day. We were in Portree and after a slow breakfast we headed ashore and made our way to the sea eagle exhibition. We learnt about the reintroduction of sea eagles and watched videos of the Skye scenery taken from a helicopter. We then had lunch, some of us opting for the traditional fish and chips and others going to the bakery. The time flew by and it was soon time to head back to the boat where Olivia had prepared some entertainment for us. It was a much needed break for us (and for our oilies to dry out) but we are keen to get back out surveying tomorrow; the weather is meant to be better tomorrow… we shall hold our breath!

Anchorage: Portree harbour
Distance travelled: 23.6NM

We set off this morning from Plockton, once again battling the west coast elements as the cold westerly wind whistled around our ears and the rain stung our faces. Some shelter in the lee of the Crawlin Islands was most welcomed and seven hyperactive porpoises passed us by at great speeds giving us a flash of their light coloured flanks. This was one of today’s 4 porpoise sightings our friendly mini-marine mammals. Having bashed across some more exposed water a few seals showed their faces in the Raasay narrows, one happily munching a fish. 23 miles after leaving Plockton we arrived in Portree where skipper John used his good charm and connections to get u a secure RNLI mooring for the night. Olivia’s scrumptious coffee cake was a well-earned treat, how showers a highlight, although we do believe that Emma had fixed the water meter as she apparently only used 2 litres of water to shower with. After some card games and some dinner we dispersed to the pub for some live music.

Anchorage: Isle Ornsay
Distance travelled: 45.5NM

May the force (gale 8) be with you-- with waves up 6 meters, the Silurian was dancing in the water just like a groom at his wedding. A few times the boat even heeled over enough to submerge the windows of the deck cabin on that side. The day passed by with lots of the bow looking at the sky, only to be followed by the plunge down the other side of the swell. The birds were out now and then, in between waves, but not much else was spotted (given the conditions this was hardly surprising). However we made our moorage and we are now positioned for some sheltered surveying over the next few days, hopeful that the bad weather passes through.
After dinner tonight, we played an educational card game where we practised our identification of species.

Anchorage: Tobermory
Distance travelled: 30.6NM

With a rainy windy day, day one started with getting the boat ready; filling it with fresh water, stocking up food and getting introduced to boat safety, it ended with dinner and getting to know one another after a trip up Loch Sunart and back to Tobermory for the night. In summary, we set a sail of 30 miles surveying areas and we saw three seals and one lucky harbour porpoise and many birds.

Anchorage: Tobermory Bay

Today Silurian became a floating classroom once again to welcome the students of Tobermory Primary School onboard for marine environmental education workshops. The crew included Skipper John (the lion's mane jellyfish), First Mate Emma (the Eider duck), Education Officer Gemma (the grey seal) and Education Assistant Andy (the angler fish). Sitting comfortably alongside the pontoon in Tobermory harbour, we saw a total of 18 P6&7 children who eagerly jumped onboard to find out about the marine life of western Scotland and the work of HWDT. Here's what they had to say about their experience onboard Silurian:

'My favourite part was when we had the hydrophone in the water and we were listening to the sounds' – William
'My favourite thing was finding out all the facts because they were very interesting' – Abbey
'I really enjoyed learning about the binoculars and how to look for wildlife' – Fraser
'I enjoyed doing the treasure hunt. I learned that whales don’t squirt water through their blowhole' – Graeme
'My favourite part of the day was standing on the deck looking for sightings with the binoculars' – Anna
'I enjoyed John’s impression of the lion’s mane jellyfish and also looking through the binoculars with Andy' – Alexander
'My favourite activity was when we were using the binoculars. We had to look for animals; when we spotted some we had to shout ‘sighting’!' – Asha
'Today I learned all about the marine life of Tobermory. It made me laugh when Gemma the grey seal made her very off noise. I thought that the life-size bottlenose dolphin called Duncan was very interesting!' – Eilidh the eel
'Today I learnt how to track animals in the waters. I enjoyed doing the treasure hunt and it made me laugh when we were making nicknames and actions for our names' – Molly
'Today I learnt about what to shout when you saw an animal onboard. I enjoyed working with everyone. It made me laugh when Gemma did her seal impression. One thing I found interesting was listening to everyone’s animal name. I will remember Gemma’s seal impression. One surprising thing was seeing Duncan again' – Bekah the basking shark
'It made me laugh when Gemma the grey seal made a really funny snorting noise. I really liked trying to find the animals and I liked seeing Duncan. I also liked my noise because I was an Irrawaddy dolphin so I had to squeak' – Isabel the Irrawaddy dolphin
'Today I learnt what to say if you spot an animal and I enjoyed learning what to do if we were going to work onboard Silurian. It made me laugh when Izzy made a noise of an animal. One thing I found interesting was how to get the sounds. I will remember to always wear a lifejacket. One surprising thing was going on the boat. I thought the best bit was seeing Duncan' – Sophie the seahorse
'Today I learnt how to tie a sheet bend and Silurian is a lovely boat. I would love to work on the boat. Gemma makes odd seal noises!' – Lee the limpet
'Today I learnt about the Silurian and what’s onboard. I enjoyed spotting a seal on Calve Island. It made me laugh when we were thinking of animal names for us. One thing I found interesting was the software for the hydrophone. I will remember looking for animals. One surprising thing was Gemma’s grey seal impression' – Fergus the flying fish
'Today it made me laugh when everyone had to come up with their animal names and actions. Gemma the grey seal was really funny. I will remember looking for any animal in the bay and seeing one of my friends get clipped on to the mast' – Vicki the velvet crab
'Today I learnt that a flying fish makes a vroom noise! I enjoyed looking for birds. I found Emma’s cheese and I realised that it’s actually a rope. I will remember Gemma’s grey seal impression. One surprising thing was the size of the beds onboard. I thought the best bit was finally understanding what we were talking about!' - Tommy the turtle
'I really enjoyed looking through the binoculars' – Gosia
'The thing that I enjoyed the most was listening to all the noises that whales and dolphins make' - Corrie

Thanks to all of the children for making today such a great day - we really enjoyed meeting you all! Silurian then hosted an open boat event where members of the public were invited to join us onboat to find out about our research work. All that remained for us to do was to get our touch tank ready for Friday, thanks to our fantastic local fishermen who provided us with some marine animals to teach with.

Anchorage: Loch Moidart
Distance travelled: 49.2NM

Today we had a great day exploring remote and beautiful Scotland by boat and foot. Eugene and Max started the day with a swim in the cold water of Loch Aline. We then headed out of the Sound of Mull and towards the Cairns of Coll in the hope of spotting some minke whale but there did not appear to be any whales about, just plenty of harbour porpoise to keep our visual observers busy. Tom had a great experience up in the crows nest and particularly enjoyed having a bacon buttie brought up to him shortly followed by spotting his very first fulmar. Our day ended nearby an amazing castle, with steps up to the top towers that gave stupendous views of the surroundings. We scampered around the ruins and found old fireplaces, stoves and deep, dark, chambers. When we got back to the boat we discussed past results from data collected onboard Silurian and finished up with a game of cards or two.