Apart from managing our vessels and providing everything our guests need on their cruise, the mission of all our crew members is to ensure the cruise is educational, inspirational and fun for our guests. No one-takes this more to heart than Lynsey and we are delighted she is returning as main Wildlife Guide aboard Proud Seahorse for 2018. Lynsey has a passion and love for the Hebrides and her in-depth knowledge of wildlife makes the cruise very memorable for all guests. Lynsey provides photos and reports about her sightings all through the season; have a look at the posts on our news blog for an insight into life at sea in the Hebrides.
While on board, Lynsey is ready with a fount of information on the places viewed en-route, as well as the wildlife that is seen along the way. She collects important data on cetaceans for Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) and happily involves any guest who in interested in participating. Lynsey accompanies guests on shore, highlighting anything of interest as well as spotting and identifying wildlife. As one of four crew, Lynsey helps make sure guests have everything they need while on board and with the running of the ship. She loves all cetacean species but her particular favourite is the orca or killer whale, which is in fact not a whale at all but the largest species in the dolphin family.
Lynsey is well qualified for her job on board. She has a MGeol degree in Applied and Environmental Geology and GIS in Marine Biology. She is also trained in identifying cetaceans and seabirds and qualified to take samples from stranded cetaceans. She was Volunteer Research Assistant with the HWDT which involved many roles and skills from data processing and co-ordinating and maintaining the community sightings network to crewing on board Silurian, the HWDT research vessel.
Lynsey has just returned from the Falklands where she was working aboard the Marine Conservation Research vessel R.V. “Song of the Whale.” She is now headed for Corpach to help with the winter maintenance of our vessels help get everything in place for the new season - only 10 weeks to go!!
We thought the itinerary was well chosen for a varied experience. While sailing near the coastline, the scenery was fabulous of course. When out of sight of land, we were all more intent on spotting birds & cetaceans & Rob was always keen to slow down & manoeuvre to give us the best possible view Some of the landings were a little tricky but all well worth it & we all eventually mastered the art of donning life jackets & boarding the tender. Rob always managed to find us sheltered anchorages, often with views of white-tailed eagles & seals. His local knowledge meant that he could amend the itinerary to suit weather conditions. Although we were unable to land on the Flannan Isles as planned, Rob added in a visit to the Shiants, which more than made up for it. Lynsey has a huge knowledge of wildlife & geology & an amazing ability for spotting cetaceans at a distance. Craig always got us ashore safely & used his experience of the area so suggest suitable walks. For anyone who loves Scotland, has an interest in wildlife, enjoys good food & has even an average amount of fitness & mobility, I’d say “Go for it but make sure you pack clothing for all weathers!"
Jeff Bamforth: 15 June 2021Far-flung islands: Harris, Taransay & the Flannan Isles