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On board Silurian
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. If you would like to send the crew an e-mail with your questions click here. Click here to view the Silurian Log archive. 16th July 2009
Date: Thursday 16th July
Anchorage: Crossapol Bay, Coll Position: 56°34’.505N, 06°39’.398W Distance Travelled: 43.1NM Nothing until about 4:30 when we saw a basking shark. Drove the boat to near it, but then pushed by the swell until nearly on top of it and it swam away. Sailed on for a while and saw another basking shark, then another, and another, soon surrounded by 8, some coming really close and sticking their noses out. Also a Bonxie, though it was somewhat ignored. Liz and Natalie learnt to speak whale and did impersonations of basking sharks. All together now... Went ashore to a beach on Gunna and played British Bulldog, then went swimming and found a shrimp. Dried off in the sun and Liz was bullied by a kleg- a horse fly. Matt took some good photos of lots of seals on the other side of the island. Had showers- AHHH!!! # posted by HWDT @ 10:53 AM
 15th July 2009
Date: Wednesday 15th July
Anchorage: Crossapol Bay, Coll Position: 56°34’.505N, 06°39’.398W Distance Travelled: 89.6NM After a rainy start the good weather afterwards allowed us to sail west of Islay where we saw a few porpoises and grey seals. Porpoise clicks were detected all evening by the hydrophone and our long journey back to Coll that evening allowed us to collect more data than usual. This season not too many chances of collecting data till after midnight. The journey back was a little rough but it certainly made dinner and washing up interesting, watch out for those knives!!! # posted by HWDT @ 10:51 AM
14th July 2009
Date: Tuesday 14th July
Anchorage: Loch Tarbert, Jura Position: 55°58’.368N, 05°59’.742W Distance Travelled: 45.8NM A quiet day, saw some seals and seabirds, including little storm petrels. One brief sighting of a porpoise by Liz up in the crows nest. Some seasickness sufferers’. Anchored off Jura, but just before that a concentration of grey seals. Because the weather forecast is really good, surveying tomorrow will be more offshore west of Islay. Hopefully a great opportunity to see the killer whales which have been spotted off Ireland last week. Also a report of a stranded whale near Coll which we’ll check out after that. # posted by HWDT @ 3:39 AM
13th July 2009
Date: Monday 13th July
Anchorage: Gometra Harbour (between Gometra and Ulva) Position: 56°28’.891N, 06°16’.081W Distance Travelled: 25.6NM Got on board and went through safety, science and storage stuff. Set off north at about 3pm and saw a basking shark within the first half an hour at the entrance of the Sound of Mull. Also saw many seabirds and some seals. Anchored off Lunga and went ashore to see the nesting birds. Got really close to the nesting guillemots, fulmars, shags, razorbills and puffins - some great shots and memorable moments. Good weather except for a short sharp shower. Poor Matt, alone with 8 women (although, so far he’s not complaining.....). # posted by HWDT @ 3:36 AM
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