Porpoises-a-plenty!
One of the very useful tools that we have at our disposal here (thanks to Okeanos) are static hydrophones (C-Pods for those more technically minded readers) that can be left in the water to record the comings and goings of all odontocetes, except sperm whales, 24hrs a day! Collecting acoustic data is an important part of our work here and given the terrible weather conditions we’ve been told to expect in the coming days (Gale Force 10 on it’s way….batten down the hatches!) having these in place will ensure that data is still being gathered whether we’re able to see 3 feet in front of our noses or not!
This morning I ventured out with our good friend Ian French, a marine biologist and local wildlife tour operator, to deploy the hydrophones in some carefully selected sites in Loch Gairloch. Harbour porpoises are known to regularly frequent these waters and we are hoping to get some nice recordings and also to ultimately learn more about the behaviour of these elusive little creatures. Early doors, the loch waters were positively millpond-esque and not a ripple could be seen. A light mist skirted the coastline and the sun struggled to break through the clouds, leaving a grey hue to everything around.
Within minutes of leaving Gairloch harbour we spied a group of about 15 harbour porpoises in the distance, milling about in the exact area that we were planning on setting one of the hydrophones. A good site indeed! As we approached slowly, they came over to check us out – not a behaviour that harbour porpoises are known for, as they usually show an aversion to boats being the shy little creatures that they are – and up close and personal you can’t but fail to understand why some people call these animals “puffing pigs”, as the noise they make when exhaling is like putting your lips together and blowing out quickly … and don’t tell me you didn’t just try that!! After their little visitation, they carried on their way, following the curve of the slope to destination “breakfast”. One of the individuals, Nicola (!!), was known to Ian and he had first spotted her over 8 years ago with a very distinctive “nick” in her dorsal fin. I took this to be a very good omen for our acoustic research … and felt nicely confident as we lowered the device down into the depths! One down, one to go!
Our second drop-off point was further out at the mouth of the Loch and on our way we encountered a further group of 8 porpoises, all mother and calf pairs. (Could one of them be the mother we saw back in May?) Obviously feeding, these chaps were quietly and briefly breaking the surface, leaving few ripples behind in their wake. A matter of moments later, another pod of 6 porpoises passed us on the starboard side … the signs were all very positive that this was an important habitat for these creatures and as records show, they use these waters regularly, with and without their calves. The birdlife on the loch was biased towards the shags but we also spotted some great northern divers – early arrivals from Canada, and here for the winter – a couple of razorbills and a solitary juvenile black-backed gull. (7 years it takes these guys to reach maturity … quite a substantial time for a bird no?!)
With the second hydrophone deployed off the south of the island of Longa, we turned for home, trying to keep one step ahead of the approaching storm. A light drizzle came down but in all honesty nothing was going to dampen my spirits this morning and with one pod of porpoises spotted after another and another, our trek back into harbour was an absolute delight! (I shouldn’t of course forget the lone common seal who put in an appearance briefly but who was far too busy thinking about food to stick around for long). Our timing though had been impeccable (if I do say so myself) as we experienced the magic of being out on the water with no other boats and only porpoises for company, and the rain had kindly waited until we were “mission accomplished” before it started to throw its weight about!
Not only therefore had we had a very productive and successful morning’s work, but I’d had a lovely, private wildlife tour of Loch Gairloch all to myself – fabulous!! Better starts to the day are few and far between!
It was however to prove to be the calm before the storm … as I sit indoors writing this looking out over a very choppy Minch, Skye, Harris and Lewis have again disappeared behind the clouds, the rain is battering against the windows and the wind is gusting and threatening to flatten all the foliage as far as the eye can see! Until the next time … may you all keep drier than we will!!
