Gairloch 2010

Posted on behalf of Kila, WDCS Canine Research Assistant

Every excursion into the field brings a multitude of adventures for both human and canine researchers alike and this time has been no different ... ! It's been a fun-filled few weeks and we've made new friends, Gairloch is a great place to visit ... and NATO certainly agree! We've had our fair share of both bad and good weather days - personally i prefer the 'bad' ones as opposed to the 'good' ones where we spend hour after hour looking through the big and small glasses (apparently they make everything appear that little bit closer ... perhaps i should get me some ... it would make finding the rabbits that little bit easier) as these usually mean that we're out and about in the moving box conducting some sheep abundance surveys (Harvey and i swap sides every now and then to ensure random sampling procedures are followed), checking out the local beaches for pieces of driftwood (or as the case may be, some discarded plastic for my beach-cleaning assistant) and meeting the locals, visitors and "raising awareness" as to why we're here in the first place! Just the other day we met one of our youngest supporters; i'd never met her but she knew all about us ... sweet little thing loved dolphins but dogs even more ... good taste i say!

Taste is a very enjoyable sense for us canines (as is smell) but hearing is just as important (although i 'hear' there are dogs, and humans, who live perfectly well without all their senses intact) and for the first time i believe that i finally understand why all the noise that humans are making in and under the seas must be so very distressing for the whales and dolphins. This "Joint Warrior" has included an unprecedented number of aircraft, from low-flying helicopters to blink and you miss them, fighter jets, and on many days we were never without a low hum and vibration in the air, the drone was unrelenting and the constant "noise" was rather irritating to say the least. It's not that i couldn't live with it (I would just be a bit grumpier than usual) but i was finding it very difficult to focus and it certainly made life that little bit less pleasant. The difference between now and when we were here in April when the volcanic ash cloud kept all aircraft grounded is stark!



It's very difficult to understand exactly how noisy it is under the water but thankfully our old friend the "Dolphin whisperer" came to join us on fieldwork as did his side-kick "PC Plod" and the porridge and rice (but sadly not razor clam) master, "Big Red", and they've been listening with the "big ears" to all the goings on in the aquatic environment. It may look all peaceful and tranquil on the surface but the reality is so very different ... ! Most of the time there was a similar constant droning noise to the one that we'd been experiencing on land but much more high-pitched ... the humans tell me it's called Sonar, and it's being emitted by some of the various navies who are in town, well ... in town at sea. I don't really understand the specifics of it all but basically they use it to try and find the "enemy" or their "prey" by bouncing noise off of objects underwater. My questions are ... (1) What happens if it bounces off an animal?; and (2) Why can't they use their other senses? Smell has always worked for me!

Sight is another of the senses and it's possibly the one that brings me the most pleasure ... and there's nothing quite like a West of Scotland sunset ... words don't do them justice!









Another bonus to the non-watching days are our trips to the 'temporary office' (otherwise known as the Old Inn) and once more i'd like to give a personal shout out to our friend Sharon ... she's always so happy to see us and in as well as carrots has now added sausages and ham to the canine pub grub menu!! (The butchers should also get a mention as they provide us with a plethora of tasty treats when we're in town!)

Until the next adventure ... keep an eye out for my flippered friends as they certainly bring endless hours of entertainment!!

WOOF ....

Given the weather that we've been privy to these past few days, anyone could be forgiven for thinking that we were anywhere else but the north-west coast of Scotland ... in October!! Up here, we're not that far from the Arctic Circle and at this time of year we could only dream of blue skies, a toasty sun and no wind ... but our prayers were answered and for the first time in almost a week we were able to see across to the Isle of Skye and we've been basking in the few days of "Indian Summer" that were forecast - although i have to say, I've been to India and an Indian Summer it was not ... warm yes, positively tropical, no! The only thing missing from it being classed as 'ideal sighting conditions' were a few clouds to keep the glare away but ... we weren't complaining.

Our survey area has been positively bubbling with animals and over the past few days we've been lucky enough to see an absolute plethora of marine critters passing by our doorstep. Harbour porpoises have been the most abundant, with over 60 individuals spotted in one day ... from lone animals to groups of 8, the most pleasing sight is that of mother/calf pairs gently rolling through the glassy calm waters of the Minch. A few minke whales are also still hanging around, possibly just filling up on as many sand-eels as they can before they move off to their wintering grounds, and another seasonal visitor, the basking shark have also been plentiful - although it's worth noting that the majority of them appeared not to be "basking" and instead were seen propelling themselves at great speeds through the water.





Although not venturing close enough to identify to a species-level, two separate pods of dolphins (at two separate times) were spotted in the north of the survey area. They were incredibly boisterous and demonstrative and were spotted breaching repeatedly and making a lot of splashes for an extended period of time! At one point however we were holding our breaths as we spotted a German Frigate (the German equivalent for HMS .. "Bremen"), heading straight for one of the pods. They were getting closer and closer and we were almost considering calling them up on the radio to warn them about what was ahead (and to ask them to identify the species for us!!) when at what seemed was almost the last minute (although admittedly distances can be deceptive at sea) they changed course and veered off to starboard and thankfully avoided what could have been a rather messy situation!



Our sightings wouldn't be complete without mentioning the other members of the animals kingdom that we encountered; both grey and harbour seals, eider ducks, noisy geese flying overhead and the avian equivalent of a killer whale (as in being a relatively infrequent visitor, and inducing jumping up and down behaviour by the spotter) ... a pomeranian skua!

The beauty of the north however hasn't only been confined to the daylight hours and we were treated to possibly one of the most magnificent natural wonders of the world ... the Aurora Borealis! Lighting up an otherwise star-studded sky (the milky way is like a white streak across the centre of the black sky - no light pollution up here!) the green and blue oil-slick'esque marvel that is the Northern Lights flickered across the northern extreme of our survey area and made us feel even ore humble than we had been before.

The extreme gale force winds that we have been experiencing in the last week seem to have finally dissipated. We’ve been thinking about our colleagues who are also working in the field in Bardsey Island in North Wales and wondering if they have been as blown around as we were up here in northwest corner of mainland Scotland.

We’ve had plenty to keep us occupied even though we haven’t been able to conduct watches! Once we had a sighting of our first warship in the northern part of our survey area they multipled in number on a daily basis, up to six at one point. From massive aircraft carriers to frigates and fighter jets, we had them all, and we had a wind-inducing close encounter with a Royal Navy helicopter, which flew right in front of us in our field study site - they filled up our ‘big eye’ binoculars!

We also observed two intense, short and distant flashes in the night sky north of Skye. Mysterious. They were over too quickly to be flares. And ‘Big ears’, our underwater acoustic listening system, also recorded three different types of active sonar filling the Minch! No wonder no animals were heard. Maybe all the marine wildlife has travelled south to avoid the noise – maybe even as far south as Bardsey…??



Sightings of the wildlife sort have been more avian than cetacean, mainly due to the extreme gale force winds, although Nicola observed a pair of porpoises on one of the short watches when the Minch calmed down enough for us to don our thermals and go on effort for the first time on Saturday. Large flocks of noisy geese have been flying in ‘V-formation’ over head all week, in groups of 30-50. We had more than 60 eider ducks rafting on the water in front of our field site and a white-tailed sea eagle (minus the white-tail!) majestically circling in a thermal current over head for several minutes.



With high pressure expected over the UK for the rest of this week, we are optimistic to be watching every day. The warships have moved away now, perhaps they have gone further north. Without sonar filling the Minch we hope to have some cetacean encounters – it was this time last year that we observed ‘John Coe’ the infamous killer whale cruise through our field site! Fingers crossed…

Posted on behalf of KIla, WDCS Canine Research Assistant

And so, duly rested from our adventures on the Outer Hebrides we're back out in the field again, we've returned to our familiar Wester Ross haunts and I'm taking bets on what kind of ridiculous headgear my humans are going to subject me to this time round (remember the Canadian Navy baseball cap?) - perhaps i can pass the fashion baton onto Harvey?

When i told people about our adventures in Lewis, everybody kept saying ... "oh, bit windy over there was it not?" ... well, it may have been a bit breezy (you need that to keep the midges away) but it certainly wasn't as windy as it is here that's for sure!!! Since we've arrived we've been battling gale force winds and for the first few days we couldn't even see across the Minch let alone spot any of those flippered critters. Rain clouds were everywhere and seemed to dance across the water towards us no matter how hard we tried to outrun them! The "front" has apparently moved on past us (does that mean the "back" is on it's way?) and the rain has definitely subsided but the wind remains the same .... gusting!

The weather however is no excuse for the military (be a terrible thing if it was, can you imagine ... "no we can't go to war, it's raining!" ... and they're out in force this time round. Only this morning i was out taking care of my ablutions and i looked up to find 6 warships on our doorstep!!! I know who they were, where they were from and where they were heading but i don't know if i'm allowed to tell you as it might kind of defeat the whole point of these "war games" that they're all playing ... oh ok then ... all of them were minesweepers belonging to the UK and all of them were heading to Loch Ewe just to the north of us as this is where they do the majority of their mine clearing practicing and one place i avoid going for a swim as i don't think i'd be wanting to come across one of those devices during my paw'dle!



In our quiet moments i've been having a bit of a rumination over the names that different countries choose for their warships, the UK and the USA for example seem to like naming their vessels after places (and the odd person). Some however differ quite remarkably, the Germans have one ship called "Rottweil", presumably named after my cousins, the Rottweilers - whom i would want on my side if i had to go into any kind of battle, whilst the the Belgians have one called "Crocus", presumably named after that pretty flower that comes in a variety of colours and makes the place look nice in the Spring ... always room for flowers no matter where in the world one is!!



Hopefully the weather is going to take a turn for the better in the coming days but ... if all else fails ... we can just walk endlessly on the many beaches in the vicinity ... and being that there is a plentiful supply of sticks for me, and sheep for Harvey, we'll be quite content either way!

Until the next time .... woof!

Gale force winds and horizontal rain are preventing us from surveying. We briefly glimpsed our first warship this morning but it quietly slipped into the sea fog..

For those of you interested in how Joint Warrior might be having an impact on another species (human!), please check out this news story.