Sperm Whale in Oban Harbour

On Saturday March 30th, someone phoned us to say that they thought there might be a whale in Oban Harbour. As we had planned a short trip anyway, we headed down to the harbour to see what was going on and almost immediately saw a large whale. At first we thought it was a hump-back whale, and were able to get some pretty good images of its back, tail fluke (picture) and pectoral fin. When we looked at these and subsequently saw it 'blowing', we realised that it was probably a sperm whale.

It's extremely unusual to see any whale this close to Oban, let alone a sperm whale, which was a 'first for us, and a very exciting experience.  We have a strict 'no approach' policy, and tempting though it may have been, we kept our distance and watched the creature for about three hours.

We're currently updating British Divers Marine Life Rescue (www.bdmlr.org) and the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) with the whale's movements. Members of the public are being really helpful and posting sightings to our FaceBook page (ChaliceCharters). It is possible that the whale may be ill, or it could simply have wandered 'off course' and be a little confused by its new surroundings.

Sperm whales are the largest predator on the planet, with males reaching lengths of 18 metres.  They are found globally, although it is thought that only males frequent sub-polar regions. They famously dive to incredible depths to hunt a variety prey, including the giant squid. The whale in Oban s approx 12m long.

At last - we're on YouTube. The product of a wet morning in Oban! I don't think Spielberg need worry just yet, but then he's probably never seen a basking shark?

Check us out

http://youtu.be/1Sug19U_jug

World First in Marine Surveying!

We've been pretty busy over the last couple of weeks - not directly on the wildlife front, but fascinating stuff .....

First of all, we were working with a team from the British Antarctic Survey assisting in the deployment of new multibeam sidescan equipment which will soon be on its way  to the Antarctic where it will be used for deep-water survey work. We spent a week caring out calibration and survey  exercises in the Firth of Lorn and Loch Etive.

Last week was spent with another group working on the Inis Hydro Project.  this is part of a £3.2m EU-funded project to complete a detailed hydrographic survey in coastal waters off Northern Ireland and the west coast of Scotland. This is being achieved by using the latest multibeam sidescan equipment which accurately maps the seabed from a moving vessel and returns critical depth measurements as well as a detailed electronic 'picture' of the sea floor. 

Many of the existing marine charts for this area were compiled using data dating back to the mid-1800's, when depth recordings were made manually from a small boat using a lead weight attached to a   line, and so there are a lot of omissions and anomalies.

The most fascinating past of the week was that we established a world-first in hydrographic survey by completing a successful multibeam survey of the Gulf of Corryvreckan - the third largest maelstrom in the world.  This is a fierce area of water lying between the islands of Jura and Scarba, classed by the UK Admiralty as 'unnavigable'.  Favourable weather conditions allowed us to make several passes through the Corryvreckan which resulted fantastic images of a previously unseen subterranean terrain.

Part of the survey work involved obtaining samples of the sea-bed to determine its make-up. This required sediment sample to be 'grabbed' from depths of over 200 metres.

Basking Shark Research

In July, we'll be hosting research scientist Lillian Lieber from the University of Aberdeen. Lilian will be travelling with us on Whale and Basking Shark tours using the opportunity to further her study of basking shark genomics. Guests will be able to chat with her about basking sharks and we hope to be able to get Lili close enough for her to carry out some non-invasive sampling.

There's puffins on the starboard bow......

Isn't life strange - you go to print and say, "...if you see a puffin close to Oban then it's probably lost.", and then see three within minutes of leaving the marina. This is a great sighting along with a good number of gannets, terns and other seabirds currently in the Firth of Lorne.