Sighting Guide

Your Key to Local Species

MINKE WHALES are the smallest baleen whales in the world with adults reaching around 10metres in length. They can be naturally very curious and somtimes swim around and under the boat within a few feet of us - human watching?!

ORCA (Killer whale) are normally only seen a couple of times throughout the season by ourselves, although it appears to be the same pod returning year after year, led by the alpha male, named John Coe. They roam the whole of the Hebrides, a huge area, and we are lucky enough to have these few chances.

BASKING SHARKs are a most unforgettable sight as they swim along the surface with their dorsal fin slicing through the water and their mouths agape! They can grow to the massive length of 10 metres, the second largest fish in the sea! Don’t worry though, they eat only microscopic plankton!

COMMON DOLPHINS are regular visitors to this area and can be seen in numbers from just a few to groups of hundreds! They are extremely playful and if you catch them in the right mood, they can approach the boat and “bowride” in the boat’s pressure waves. A particular favourite of children - both young and young at heart, is watching them play around the boat.

BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS are one of the few species seen regularly, year round in our waters. They are one of the most acrobatic species of dolphin and can be seen trying to outdo themselves with exciting gymnastic displays, from body slaps to full mid air somersaults!

RISSO’S DOLPHINs are also regular visitors and tend to be a bit more sedate than the other species of dolphins we encounter, although they are just as important! We see them in groups of just a couple to family groups of 30-40.

HARBOUR PORPOISE are the smallest cetacean (whale,dolphin or porpoise) that we encounter and are normally the first fins we spot just outside the bay! They are sighted all year round and we look forward to seeing their newborn calves in the spring and summer.

BIRD LIFE there are far too many birds to even begin to list here, but to name a few of the rarer species, manx and sooty shearwater, storm and leaches petrel, northern and red throated divers, arctic and common terns, arctic and great skua ... and of course the old favourites, the seagulls, puffins, razorbills, gannets, guillemots, fulmars, shags ... the list is endless!!

COMMON & GREY SEALS are plentiful and are often the ones watching us if we stop at a colony for lunch!

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