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)
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
Common dolphin taken from MV Loch Seaforth travelling Ullapool-Stornoway 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
Northern gannet 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.
Adult male orca, John Coe, that has a distinctive notch in the back of his dorsal fin, spotted from MV Clansman sailing from Oban to Castlebay 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.
Passengers on MV Lord of the Isles who were delighted to spot the killer whales with Jess
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.
