Best Day Yet!
Posted on Mon 8 Jul 2019 · by Paul Sharman
We had a full day trip today heading out towards the Shiant Isles on the most beautiful day we have had this season. Calm seas and blue skies, what more could you ask for. Well, as a special treat we saw many Minke whales, a docile basking shark and several short beaked common dolphins bow riding our boat, who made a memorable appearance on our return to Stornoway Harbour just to top it all off!
The puffins are still in their thousands at the Shiants with their pufflings hiding in the burrows, possibly until the end of July when they are left to fend for themselves. Loads of other seabirds too, including the kittiwakes who this year have produced many chicks which were seen on our trip today.
On our return to Stornoway, we saw a sea eagle chick which is almost as big as its parents. Sadly this nest did start off with three chicks but it looks like only one is left. However, this was still another great sight to see.
We had international guests from Belgium, Sweden and Switzerland today, including our newbee guide Muriel who also comes from Switzerland but works in Norway as a cetacean guide during the winter and also research work in Canada mainly with Orca and Minke Whales.
Other staff from Hebridean Adventures went to Tiumpan Head today and watched Fin Whales feeding for 2 hours in deep water 5km off shore, also Risso with a few bottle-nose dolphins which are even more rare than fin whales over in this part of the Hebrides.....and some white-beaked dolphins were also seen. Guess where the boat is heading tomorrow!!