Here are some of the highlights of our 6-night cruise on May 23rd 2015. With Guide Vivi Bolin on board, an impressive amount of wildlife was spotted and identified: golden and white tailed Eagles; bottlenose, common and Risso’s dolphins; porpoise, Pomerine skua, puffins, guillemots, razorbills and whimbrel amongst many other species
A great start to the cruise with five sightings of porpoise and two sightings of bottlenose dolphins on our way to Tobermory
A lovely walk onshore with Vivi on the Isle of Canna, finding out about the local wildlife and identifying a great Pomarine Skua
On the Sunday, on the way to Loch Bracadale on Skye there were sightings of two pods of common dolphins with at least 20 individuals bowriding our vessel, including 3 calves
A lovely anchorage at Scalpay on Harris with the most delicious dinner of mushrooms stuffed with chorizo & manchengo cheese; coq au vin and sticky toffee pudding
A shore walk with Vivi on the Shiants amongst seabirds galore – puffins, guillemots, razorbills and a whimbrel on the nest. Four white-tailed eagles were spotted
A shore walk on the beautiful Isle of Eriskay (South Uist) with Vivi returning to an amazing dinner of Steve’s handmade venison sausages with sweet potato and local cheese mash
East of South Uist a pod of 8 Risso’s Dolphins circled the boat, breaching out of the water. Vivi has submitted the pictures to HWDT for ID of individual dolphins (* see Vivi’s note below*)
A tantalizing glimpse of what we think was a Minke Whale, just east of Eriskay
West of the Isle of Coll, European Storm Petrel were seen
Two Golden Eagles were spotted at Glenmore on Loch Sunart, where guests also loved a visit to the wonderful Nadurra Visitor Centre and the new Ardnamurchan Distillery
On the last morning of the cruise, some porpoise bade us a final farewell as we passed the imposing silhouette of Duart Castle on our journey back to Oban
* “The Risso’s were at a good camera distance. Normally Risso’s don’t bother with boats, so we were lucky that they came close and even circled the boat once. One of them was a juvenile and it put on a great show by jumping out of the water. I’ve given the Risso’s dolphin pictures to HWDT and they share them with WDC and both organisations do photo-identification by looking at the scratches and nicks on the dorsal fins and comparing them to existing photographs. This is important for various things: documenting the movement of the animals, habitat use, population trends, group structure and group sizes. So even though it’s just a picture, it’s actually very important data for scientists! Especially when used together with the LOGGER data that I collect with the computer. Pretty cool stuff!” *Vivi Bolin.
We know nothing of Scotland. It’s time for us to see why people like this area of the world so much. We book a tour found on the internet. The dates are right. We travel to Oban and find the pre-trip information sent to us invaluable. We wait at the dock for the crew to meet us and take our soft-sided luggage to our cabin. The other guests are prompt and the crew is timely too. We marvel at the amazing cameras and the experiences of other passengers. Two have traveled with the ship multiple times. We are focused on where we are and the journey ahead of us. Our luggage is delivered to our ensuite cabin. There is plenty of space to store our gear and thoughtfully placed shelves for items, such as cameras and binoculars we might need without digging through our bags. The double bed has a portal window and well placed reading lamps. Our cabin and the public areas were impeccably cleaned each morning while we are off to shore with naturalist, Alexa. There is a library selection of literature and guide books to help identify what we saw on walks. I noticed a scrabble game, which we never found time to play. The chef, Mags, works in a tiny galley and turns out the most amazing meals. Giving people a choice between vegetarian and non vegetarian entrees, wine is included with the dinners. A breakfast buffet is laid out and there is always a hot breakfast available. There are 8 of us on this voyage. We all eat together and take excursions in the morning and afternoon. Craig is calm and also assists the chef and helps Chris, the Captain, anchor the boat when we stop for the night. Weather and sea conditions are the great unknown in the Hebrides. The deciding factor to where we will go. Chris lets us know the itinerary will be flexible. He picks amazing calm spots to anchor each night. He is very good at communicating why we are going or not going to an island and invites us up to see the bridge. We travel to amazing sites, such as the island Inch Kenneth and Ulva, and learn the history of eac
Greg and Bobbie Hobbs: 27 April 2019Idyllic Islands: Mull, Iona, Staffa & the Treshnish Isles