29 August 2023

Whale watching on MV Loch Seaforth

Wild Discovery tell us about their three-day trip onboard MV Loch Seaforth engaging with passengers on spotting marine wildlife.

How did you find your three days onboard?

"Wow! What an incredible three days we have just had aboard MV Loch Seaforth, the vessel that sails between Stornoway and Ullapool. Between 22 and 24 August 2023 we crossed the Minch 10 times looking for whales, dolphins and seabirds, and what a success it was.

"Dan and Rachael from Wild Discovery were joined by CalMac passengers, all keen on spotting marine wildlife and we weren't disappointed. The sailing across takes around two and a half hours and connects Ullapool on mainland Scotland with Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. It's a stunning route taking in some of the best coastal scenery in the UK and it's also a haven for marine wildlife. In fact, it offers some of the best whale and dolphin watching in the UK."

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What wildlife did you see while onboard?

"From our viewpoint on the upper back decks of MV Loch Seaforth we all scanned with eager eyes, straining to see the first sign of a whale or dolphin, and it didn't take long. We managed to spot whales and dolphins on all 10 voyages with a superb diversity of eight species making it one of the richest areas of sea around the British Isles. The sightings included our smallest cetacean, the harbour porpoise (also known as the "sea pig"), right through to the second largest animal on the planet, the fin whale.

"Using the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust Track App we logged 949 whales, dolphins and porpoises (collectively known as cetaceans) and over 18,000 birds of 25 species using the eBird recording app. Common dolphins made up the majority of sightings followed by harbour porpoise, minke whale, fin whale, humpback whale, northern bottlenose whale, sei whale and bottlenose dolphin. Some of these species such as harbour porpoise and bottlenose dolphin are predominantly resident in the area whilst others like the big whales move into these rich waters in the summer months as the feeding increases for them."

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Did you record any rare or unexpected sightings?

"The biggest surprise was the appearance of two northern bottlenose whales off Priest Island which we later saw again breaching close to Horse Island. These elusive whales normally prefer the deep waters of the North Atlantic, though there has been an apparent increase in the number of inshore sightings which raises the question and concerns as to why they are coming closer to shore.

"Of the 18,000 thousand birds logged the mix of species was superb with many in the process of epic migrations. Arctic terns and a long-tailed skua headed south past us from their Arctic breeding grounds potentially destined for Antarctica and the South Atlantic.

"Our locally breeding manx shearwaters were gathering in good numbers before heading down to the Argentinian coast, whilst sooty shearwaters from the Falkland Islands and Tierra del Fuego were spending their "winter" in Hebridean waters.

"Guillemots and kittiwakes made up the bulk of the sightings and likely originated from the very impressive seabird colonies locally. We even saw a few waders including bar-tailed godwit, whimbrel, turnstone and ringed plover all Africa-bound from their Arctic breeding sites."