Friday, October 25, 2024

A lull in the stormy autumn weather, coinciding with the Isle of Lewis standing in for the Loch Seaforth, prompted us to go for yet another pelagic. We saw a few dolphins from the observation lounge before we'd even left Ullapool, and as things turned out, the day would belong to dolphins. Still lingering "indoors", Greger spotted and I managed to snap through glass, seventeen whooper swans flying high on a south-easterly bearing.


Up on deck, we enjoyed as usual the sense of space and the relatively unobstructed views you get of the sea from the old ferry. However, fewer tourists and a cold and persistent wind meant there was no competition for "rail room" anyway, while the strong vibrations (worse in some places than others) made using the camera (and even the binoculars) difficult. Greger didn't have a problem with the latter as he'd forgotten to pack his bins!

The ferry took the alternative route, and in the shelter of the Summer Isles there were suddenly loads of birds. I scanned madly but could see no shearwaters or petrels among the gulls, kittiwakes, and shags. Several pods of dolphins were seen out on the Minch, some coming very close and being easily identified as common dolphins.

The journey took almost three hours, and we'd not long disembarked before we were called to board again. We sat in the observation lounge and watched the vehicles driving on below the raised bows of the ship.


Before going back out on deck, we called in at the Coffee Cabin and had a slice of their very nice raspberry and coconut cake each, Greger with his usual black coffee, me with a comforting hot chocolate. Thus fortified, we returned to the field of battle!

Greger's good at spotting things, and he would call out whenever he saw a bird; it was just unfortunate that there was nothing unusual (and very little that was usual, come to that!) to be seen. Once again we had several sightings of dolphins, and I clicked away at them just in case some were Risso's. 

In one small pod (at 15.25 - one hour out from Stornoway) the animals were extremely active, leaping and splashing in one spot (presumably feeding) to the south of our route. I felt they were different from common dolphins, and when I took a quick look at one picture through the viewfinder, I thought I could detect a pale band across the animal's flank.  Also, I couldn't make out the distinctive hourglass pattern of the common dolphin - so I took as many pictures as I could until they'd been left far behind. I kept thinking of white-sided dolphins - but having blown up the poor pictures at home and done some research, I'm certain now that these were white-beaked dolphins.








This, we'd agreed, was to be our last pelagic of the year. Still, I s'pose we can always change our minds!    

// posted by Christine @ 11:34 AM
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