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We’re excited to share the details of our various programmes, outreach and initiatives through our environmental blog.
Check out our other blog posts10 November 2022
ORCA: End of season review 2022
ORCA Ocean Conservationists, Peter and Jess, have had a brilliant survey season travelling on our ferry network during 2022.
Recording sightings on our sailings
This year, two ORCA Ocean Conservationists joined us to record sightings of marine mammals on some of our routes and help our passengers to experience the incredible marine wildlife of the Hebrides.
Peter focused on surveying two routes:
- Oban to Castlebay (Barra), via Tiree and Coll
- Oban to Craignure (Isle of Mull)
Jess surveyed on three routes:
- Uig (Isle of Skye) to Tarbert (Isle of Harris) and Lochmaddy (North Uist)
- Mallaig to Lochboisdale (South Uist)
- Ullapool to Stornoway (Isle of Lewis)
Recording sightings on our sailings
This year, two ORCA Ocean Conservationists joined us to record sightings of marine mammals on some of our routes and help our passengers to experience the incredible marine wildlife of the Hebrides.
Peter focused on surveying two routes:
- Oban to Castlebay (Barra), via Tiree and Coll
- Oban to Craignure (Isle of Mull)
Jess surveyed on three routes:
- Uig (Isle of Skye) to Tarbert (Isle of Harris) and Lochmaddy (North Uist)
- Mallaig to Lochboisdale (South Uist)
- Ullapool to Stornoway (Isle of Lewis)
Marine mammal sightings 2022
|
Species |
Number of sightings |
Number of animals (total) |
|
Minke whale |
13 |
14 |
|
Harbour porpoise |
58 |
152 |
|
Common dolphin |
60 |
354 |
|
Bottlenose dolphin |
3 |
7 |
|
Orca |
2 |
4 (same individuals seen twice) |
|
Risso's dolphin |
1 |
2 |
|
Unidentified dolphin |
38 |
113 |
|
Unidentified whale |
8 |
8 |
|
Unidentified cetacean |
6 |
6 |
Credit: Amy-Jo Randalls
Bird sightings 2022
Although the survey focused on marine mammals, a number of bird species of interest were also seen. These included:
- Gannet
- Guillemot
- Puffin
- Manx shearwater
- Sooty shearwater
- Razorbill
- White-tailed eagle
- Fulmar
- Kittiwake
- Greater black-backed gull
- Lesser black-backed gull
- Herring gull
- Great skua
- Arctic skua
- Common tern
- Arctic tern
- Storm petrel
- Great northern diver
Credit: Amy-Jo Randalls
Highlights of the year
This year, both Peter and Jess recorded orcas, also known as killer whales, on their surveys. Orcas were spotted once on the Oban to Castlebay sailing and once on the Mallaig to Lochboisdale sailing.
The orcas were identified as John Coe and Aquarius, two known individuals on the west coast of Scotland. These two adult males are from a pod known as the West Coast Community and are genetically unique. They are an eco-type of killer whale also known as Eastern North Atlantic Type 2 killer whales that specialise in hunting mammals. Sadly, they are the only two left of their eco-type and so seeing them in the Hebrides is a real privilege and an important sighting.
Credit: Peter Selway
Peter and Jess engaged with approximately 1,737 passengers on our network this year. ORCA has been working in partnership with us since 2017, collecting vital data on marine mammal species and their critically important habitats.
ORCA is incredibly grateful to Caledonian MacBrayne for giving us a platform in the form of their vessels from which we can engage with passengers and collect this data, so that we can continue to monitor and protect marine species and their habitats for years to come.
ORCA Ocean Conservationist, Jess
