Gairloch

Posted on behalf of Kila, WDCS Canine Research Assistant

Well we're all packed up and ready to go ... the idea is to try and get on the road south and hopefully beat the storm that we've been watching coming in from the west all morning! It started with low clouds, then a bit of drizzle and now .... well it's just soggy out there - although the beach is still as much fun as ever, i'll miss our sandy strolls

But it's been a great few weeks and we've seen an a absolute plethora of things ... from porpoises to great skuas, grey geese to otters - on which note i would like to apologise on behalf of the dog who attacked the poor wee otter the other day, i am pretty sure that he/she was not to blame and had their human had them under control the otter would have been left in peace! Instinct can take over (all you have to do is look at the way Harvey has taken to his sheep duties) and it's up to the human to take control!! We've heard the injured otter is in an animal hospital recovering just now and once better will be back in his home habitat before long!



We've also seen a lot of activity on the water when it comes to those men (and women) in uniform and their big grey boats! There have been an unprecedented number of submarines this time too ... which is pretty cool because apparently they live underwater and we don't normally see them! (So they're like the mechanical whales and dolphins then? No?)





You're probably bored of hearing about the weather by now but safe to say we've had all seasons up here in the past few weeks! Glorious sunshine (good excuse for a dip in the sea), gale force winds, hail and snow ... it's been as high as 17 degrees and as low as minus 3 ... you just never know what to expect up here!



And so back to Harvey ... well i'm delighted to say that he has now officially passed his Assistant Training Course and can now consider himself a fully fledged member of the WDCS Canine Research Team! He does however still have a lot to learn but he's got enthusiasm and a keen sense of what needs to be done so i'm fairly confident that come October, when we're back, that he'll be an asset to the team! (I will however be sure my human brings an extra frisbee next time so he doesn't keep nicking mine!)



And so ... thanks for your company over the past few weeks ...we've enjoyed being here and keeping you up to date with what we've been up to ... and remember to put October in your diary ... as we'll be back to keep up the vigil over the Minch! And hopefully we'll see a minke when we come back - although i'm fairly convinced that now the navy folk have left, and now we're leaving, they'll show up in their numbers - and we hope they do ... because then we know they're safe from the whalers harpoon!

No not really, not yet anyway … but it made you look! We’re still watching and waiting for the first minke of the season to turn up and what with Icelandic whaling ships getting ready to set sail any day now we’re even keener than ever to start seeing minkes in Scottish waters, a safe haven from the whalers harpoons. Iceland have given themselves a quota of 200 minke whales for this season … 200 too many … and its heartbreaking to think that some of those 200 may end up including whales that we’ve sighted from our survey site in recent times!

(For more information on the common minke whale and research projects visit our online Species Guide and associated “Species of the Month” blog – where minkes are the flavour of April!)

The weather in this part of the world really does have to be experienced to be believed … 4 seasons in one day is an understatement! From blue skies and sunshine one minute, to watching a storm roll in across the Minch towards us the next. (Bad weather however means that the Icelandic whalers won’t get out whaling so there is always a positive to every negative – and we are secretly delighted to hear the gale warnings in place for the south east coast of Iceland!) But as you’d expect, the storms soon blow themselves out and generally move off to the south, after depositing a hefty amount of rain! We even had hailstones and snow the other day – and yes we did check it wasn’t just volcanic fall-out!!!

One unsung spectacle this far north are the glorious beaches that hug the coast. White sands and green water could lead you believe that you’re not in Scotland after all and are in fact on some far flung tropical beach! Then again … a quick nod to the gloves, hats and scarves brings you back to the correct co-ordinates on the map!





Some sad news to share is that of a recent marine mammal casualty … it wasn’t at the hands of the navy but at the teeth of a dog! The local marine mammal medic (our friend Ian French) was contacted by a concerned local who spotted what turned out to be a 2/3year old male otter who’d been attacked by a dog – poor little thing had a nasty hole in its head and looked as if it would lose the sight in one eye. Ian was taking him off to one of the local wildlife sanctuaries to get the attention he deserved. We’ll keep you updated on the little chaps progress (the otters that is, not Ian’s!) but we’re hoping he’ll make a full recovery and be able to be released back to where he was found – where hopefully the irresponsible dog-owner will no longer be! The very least they could have done is informed someone of their dog’s behaviour and tried to get some help for the otter … makes you wonder where people’s morals disappear to at times!



It would appear that the Joint Warrior exercise is over as all the navy ships have left the area (it’s been busy every day that we’ve been here) and the fishing boats are back out in force. A sense of calm has fallen over the Minch, the waters are running free of warships and submarines and it’s certainly a much quieter place to be!

And so it’s back to our minke vigil over the Minch … on this our penultimate day the conditions couldn’t be better and if there’s anything out there, we’ll see it! (Already got a few nice harbour porpoise sightings down for the day!) Hopefully we’ll also be treated to another outstanding Wester Ross sunset (with a breaching minke in the foreground?) …. You just never know up here, so fingers are crossed!!

The weather couldn’t be more different today than it was this time last week when we were having long days watching and spotting porpoises throughout our survey area. We hadn’t anticipated that we would be so lucky with the good watching weather this early in the season but it’s still disappointing that the wind has returned to scupper our land-based survey now.

So whilst the rough weather means that we have a much reduced chance of spotting porpoises, we’ve had more luck with the much more conspicuous submarines, which have been left, right and centre up and down our survey area for the last few days! The odd warship can still be seen patrolling or moving at high speed as the exercise continues. I’m certainly not envious to be out on the water in these horrible winds!

We have been hoping that the seasonal minke whales would return during our field season and whilst we continue to wait, frustrated with this increasing wind, this optimism remains - thanks to the first minke sightings of the year in Scotland, both to the south of us off Ardnamurchan Point (reported on the HWDT website) and to the east of us in the Moray Firth (WDCS).

We have had some other interesting sightings, if not of cetaceans, including one of the sea eagles that nests in the craggy hills behind our field station. It was a squawking crow and a lot of associated kurfuffle that alerted me to the eagle and several other crows that scattered through the lens of our big eyes.



And whilst the strong winds and the rain prevent us from surveying, we can still enjoy the storms as the rain clouds and the squally showers travel across the Minch, occasionally catching us out as we’re walking the dogs or checking our emails in the garden. It’s looking like gale force winds are coming in for the rest of the week, so all we can do is sit and wait, and get on with our usual office work!

Well that’s us half way through our time here already and this is only my second blog entry … but I’ve been oh so busy what with all this training of my new assistant that I’ve had to undertake and my humans have assured me that they’ve been keeping you up to date with what’s been going on! (I don’t however believe them and so shall give you a quick summary anyway shall !?)

It’s been rather exciting, lots of warships and activity on our doorstep. We’ve been revisiting some old friends at both the butchers and the “temporary office” (read as the pub … “community outreach” is the phrase I keep hearing but I’m not complaining as I get pork scratchings, carrots and lots of attention!) and been doing a bit of beach-combing and swimming into the bargain – I could get quite used to the taste of seaweed, eventually!

You humans also seem to be obsessed by the weather … personally speaking, I couldn’t care less although I must say it’s been a nice change not to have to battle against the gale force winds just to stand up or be blown off the back doorstep when I got kicked out to go pee (sorry, when I got gently coaxed outside to relieve myself), and the water that falls from the sky has also been conspicuous by its absence. So when it comes to the weather we dogs don’t really have a preference but we do tend to have more fun when our humans aren’t spending all their time looking through those big glass things so we’d like less of that kind of weather please!



It’s also like living in a kaleidoscope this far north, as contrary to popular belief us dogs (at least us “working” ones) can see shades of colour and appreciate the beauty of nature (when we’re not chasing it down a hillside that is) … and what magnificent skies we see up here – the northern lights (whatever they are, looked like a big oil-slick in the sky if you ask me), pink dawns and fiery red sunsets … quite spectacular I must say.





And I guess you’re all tuning in to see how my new assistant, Harvey is getting on and if he has passed his one week assessment. Well, I’m a tough boss to please (there are certain health and safety standards one must employ) and I demand unwavering dedication to the cause (plenty other assistants out there who’d gladly take on this job!!) but at the same time I can appreciate and reward effort.

And so to an overview of Harvey’s performance to date: -

We’ll start with the areas that need some work and could be a cause for concern shall we, as it’s always good to end on a positive note! … 1) His inexperience is very obvious at times as he’s nearly fallen in the drink once or twice, and he’s also fallen in the ditch – it was admittedly on the way ‘to’ the pub but I’m not sure if that’s actually worse?!; 2) He has a very bad habit of stealing all the bones when my back is turned and then stashing them away somewhere in the field next to us; 3) He did the unthinkable and tried to steal my Frisbee, but I soon put him in his place; 4) He’s not always “on the ball” when it comes to what he’s meant to be doing and where he’s meant to be looking – easily distracted; and 5) His in-car etiquette really does leave a lot to be desired (my side of the back seat, his side of the back seat, quite simple really!) and if the humans don’t do something about his constant desire to be over on ‘my’ side ALL the time then I may have to request that he travels in the boot from now on … that’ll soon teach him!







And so to the positives … 1) He’s effortlessly (and actually without prompting – I like ingenuity) taken over “sheep duty” first thing in the morning … and the afternoon and the evening, come to think of it, he’s just taken over, brilliant! However I do fear that we may lose him out of the car window one of these days in his exuberance to get to them – needs to find some restraint; 2) He’s keen, if a little misguided, but shows promise and there is possibly a glittering career ahead of him in this work if he keeps his head; 3) He’s definitely a team-player and what he lacks in confidence he makes up for in joviality and friendship.

So in summary, I’m glad to say that Harvey has passed his one-week assessment and as long as I see some improvement in the areas that have been highlighted as needing work, I believe he may be on his way to becoming a permanent member of the WDCS canine team.

And so I guess it’s back to work … there was a submarine out there earlier on so our walk has been delayed – again!!

Have you however heard the latest very exciting news? Apparently I’m going to be on TV (as are of course the 2 humans)!! Both times that we went visiting my friend Reuben (who sadly never passed his Assistant’s training course) and his human Monty in North Uist, in the Outer Hebrides, they were filming a TV show for the BBC (Britain’s Best Canine? No?!) and we’re going to be featured in their new programme – Monty Halls Great Escape, BBC2, 9pm on April 21st 2010! (I don’t think we make an appearance until about Episode no. 3 so don’t all get too excited too soon …. All good things come to those who wait!)

The day started out still and the sea flat, and we had warships and helicopters from various navies travelling through our survey area. We got a couple of hours watching in, but before mid-morning tea it was already too rough for us to watch effectively. So when we got the call from Gairloch Marine Wildlife Centre to get down to the harbour so we could get out on the water to deploy our acoustic equipment, we wasted no time. Ian dusted the otter spraint (poo) off the ropes and we headed out to sea!

It was a smooth journey out towards the entrance of Loch Gairloch. We turned at Longa Island at the mouth of the Loch and the swell and the wind both picked up as we headed north into the Minch. It was just as Ian put the engine into neutral to deploy the ‘Dolphin Whisperers’ acoustic gear that our first puffin of the season was spotted!

The deployment of this real-time acoustic underwater monitoring equipment went without a hitch. This fancy piece of kit (developed by the Dolphin Whisperer himself) means that, with the assistance of some solar panels and a good receiver dish, we can listen to the underwater world as its happening, whilst sitting comfortably on the top of a hill!





We turned around and headed back into the Loch to deploy our own acoustic equipment. A curious harbour seal bobbed amongst the waves and watched us pass by. Unlike the dolphin whisperers equipment, ours stays in place for months at a time and our data is not revealed to us until we retrieve the PODs and download the data…

Just as we deployed our own C-PODs next to Longa Island, we were interrupted by a pair of great skuas twisting and turning in the sky together, one of which was chasing the other for a tasty morsel.



We moved on to Strath Bay, where we had porpoises all around us last year when we deployed the equipment. Alas! No porpoises sighted today (or yesterday….) but we did see some razorbills, red throated divers and a good number of shags. All in all a good few hours out on the water – thanks Ian!



The calm glassy water of the Minch opened itself up on the familiar hilly, zig-zaggy coastal drive back to our field survey station. The wind had died down and we began a mid-afternoon land-based watch. We could clearly see the Dolphin Whisperers hydrophone buoy floating in the water.

We were getting a little weary of watching (we haven’t seen any cetaceans all day!) when Nicola called out “submarine!” (yes, she gets all the good sightings!!!). As the sun began to set behind Harris across the Minch, we ended our survey watching the sub travelling at the surface through our study area.