Gairloch 2008

At the end of two blustery weeks of field work, we packed our survey gear into the car. We’d heard reports of a northern bottlenose whale that had found itself way up in Loch Eil, past Loch Linnhe at Fort William, on the west coast of Scotland. It had been ‘behaving normally’ and swimming the length of Loch Eil for several weeks and had last been seen on Wednesday. We planned to head back to Edinburgh, via the scenic west coast route and Fort William, hoping for a glimpse this intriguing whale so that we might assess its condition. It was a long shot, and we got more than we bargained for.

Northern bottlenose whales are not usually found in rivers and lochs. They are a deep water oceanic species normally found in the waters out to the north and west of Scotland where squid are abundant prey and hunting forays to 1,500 metres are not uncommon.

After a three hour drive through the mountains in the rain we arrived at Loch Eil with the backdrop of the impressive Ben Nevis. Methodically, we set about searching the Loch from the shore, starting at the far end and working our way back. After 30 or so minutes of watching we found an unusual looking floating object, not shaped like a buoy or a piece of wood, but sticking out of the water all the same. Through the ‘Big Eye’ binoculars we could just make out that it was a long, slender beak pointing up to the sky and we could occasionally make out the bulbous forehead (which bottlenose whales are known for) as the small waves lapped over her. She was dead, her body vertical in the water and drifting with the falling tide, back out to sea. We were devastated. We barely believed that we might find the oceanic whale, and certainly not like this.

We alerted the local SSPCA officer, Donna, and assembled with the Coastguards, Phil, Darryl and Calum, and Outward Bound Co-ordinator, Dennis, who kindly took us out onto the Loch in a RIB to confirm and collect the whale. We located the whale and towed her back to the shore. In the drizzling rain and cold, driving wind, a full double rainbow straddled the Loch. With some assistance from a tractor, she was pulled out of the water and above the high tide line so that the post-mortem could be undertaken by the Scottish Agricultural College.



It was a sad end for the whale, for the residents of Loch Eil who had got used to her presence in the Loch and become fascinated with her over the last month, and for us. The best we can hope for is that the post-mortem can identify was caused this beautiful and incredible animal to end up in a Loch a long way from home and, ultimately, her demise.



We are very grateful to the SSPCA, Coastguard and Outward Bound for making the retrieval of the whale happen so quickly and so efficiently.

This northern bottlenose whale in Scotland is not the only individual to meet such an unfortunate end this year. A few bottlenose whales strand each year in Iceland, but at least 11 have already died this year. In addition, several pairs of bottlenose whales arrived in very shallow waters immediately after these strandings – some in Eyjafjörður and some in Skjálfandaflói. They were joined by two others in the harbor, one of which became entangled in a buoy and washed up dead over the following weekend. These strandings are currently being investigated in Iceland and WDCS is very interested to learn the results of these investigations.

All photographs in this blog were taken by Nicola Hodgins, WDCS.

Written on Saturday morning but due to translation efforts (and lost whale rescue efforts – see next blog entry), not posted until Sunday – apologies!

Apparently we’re on the move again, at least all the bags have been packed and there’s talk of going to look for a “lost whale” in a Loch near Fort William. Someone said it might have got lost after being preoccupied chasing some fish, I know that feeling, I’ve nearly got lost a few times when those pesky squirrels (and occasionally the odd rabbit) decide not to stay still…and although the run is fun, it can be quite scary not knowing where everyone has gone….although they’re usually where I left them and shouting my name!! I do hope the whale has someone shouting for him…

(However I must say, after listening to all the talk about these “highly intelligent” animals, I do have to wonder how clever they really are – should have got one of those map or GPS things that the humans I’m with have!)

I’ll be sad to leave this rather pleasant home away from home…although I don’t think I’ll be missing those dastardly sheep any! I nearly got one the other day when we stopped the moving box to let a whole lot of them past but however hard I tried I just couldn’t squeeze out the window….and my cries went unattended so getting out the door wasn’t going to be an option either! It was so unfair…..there were two other of my kind out there with them (I think they were from the border collie side of the family) and they were allowed to chase them – who makes up these rules?!?



I’ll miss my daily dose of seaweed too! I didn’t like it to begin with (just thought it was a mouldy stick) but it’s grown on me and apparently now I’m not only eating healthy but I’m trendy too!

And the temporary office has been fun, although getting there can be quite time-consuming – I’ve had as many pork scratchings as I could poke a stick at and lots of tummy rubs from unsuspecting office workers – they weren’t always too happy when they realised I’d just been for a swim!



So until the next time, it’s a big woof from me….and hopefully I’ll be back in May when the big birds and boats will also be back and perhaps by then I’ll have improved on my Houdini technique and managed to work a way out of both the garden and the car…and finally get to those dastardly sheep!!

I’m on the train heading back to our field study site off the west coast of Scotland. It’s a beautiful journey from Edinburgh to Auchnasheen – the end of the line on the way to Gairloch. I left Nicola and Kila to survey and snuck away a couple of days ago to present at the Institute of Acoustics Conference in Southampton. The conference was focused on underwater noise measurement, impact and mitigation and it was very interesting (details of the conference can be found here: https://underwaternoise2008.lboro.ac.uk/index.php).

My presentation was on “navy guidance to protect marine mammals from active sonar” (which I gave at the same time as Nicola spotted a sei whale!!), based on a paper that will soon be published. Very timely!! In addition to presenting this piece of work, attending the conference gave me the opportunity to talk to a number of acoustic and other experts about noise issues more generally. The most promising issue that I took from the meeting was the commitment to make progress on the issue of noise though a UK Noise Forum that includes all stakeholders. This group formed over a year ago and is the first concerted effort to better understand possible impacts of noise pollution on marine life in UK waters.

Navy sonar and potential impacts on whales and dolphins have had considerable exposure in the media of late. The US supreme court case brought about by the US conservation group, NRDC (www.nrdc.org) about protection of marine species during the operation of US mid-frequency active sonar. Closer to home in the UK, the common dolphin stranding in Cornwall back in June looking increasingly like it was connected to navy activities with the release of information from the MoD following a request from WDCS and other charities. The link is by no means certain but there is no doubt that a number of countries were involved in a major exercise that took place in the days that led up to the stranding - and the Royal Navy was still using active sonar during the afternoon after the stranding had occurred (we think it happened in the early hours of the morning). This could of course have been a problem for animals that were still alive and attempted to be refloated and brings into question why the Navy was still operating sonar after such a major incident that received national media attention.


More generally, as my presentation recognised, the UK Navy and some other navies around the world are taking the issue of noise pollution seriously and considerable resources and effort are being applied to finding solutions to mitigate their impacts. But we don’t believe that the current measures go far enough. ‘Atypical’ strandings continue to happen around the world and an increasing number of species are involved in these strandings (although this common dolphin stranding was unprecedented, our leading UK pathologist did identify gas bubbles in a common dolphin back in 2003 and made a possible connection with navy activities then). Put simply, navies need to conduct full, detailed and public Environment Assessments. Navies also need to identify important habitats and vulnerable species and conduct exercises around these, outside of important breeding, feeding and migration habitats. On-board mitigations need to be strengthened but the limitations also need to be acknowledged. On-board mitigation alone can not protect marine wildlife. Importantly, the Royal Navy, as with other marine users, should be funding basic research to improve our understanding of the marine environment and the populations and trends of populations as well as potential impacts. Without this information, we can not truly know the potential impacts of repeated and ongoing sonar on marine life.

The Americans are here! You could hardly miss them as the Minch has begun to see quite a bit of activity over the past few days. Unfortunately the weather hasn’t been too accommodating but we’ve still been able to find some moments of calm to keep up the search for animals.

Tuesday saw a break in the weather (we even had moments when there was no wind…short moments indeed but moments nonetheless) and sighting conditions were perfect! It was gannet central all day today, in any one field of view you could spot at least 20 of them, dive-bombing from one end of the Minch to the other, inshore and offshore – we were anticipating a productive day (as were the gannets obviously).

Apart from the avian displays, the morning was otherwise quiet on the wildlife front but not so on the navy one with one of the American warships patrolling the waters between Skye and Lewis and thereby the entrance to the Minch, and two other as yet unidentified navy vessels patrolling the northern horizon. By early afternoon they’d moved on and the waters became becalmed once more.

Patience and our powerful binoculars enabled mid afternoon sightings of 2 basking sharks and a …(drum roll please)….a very unexpected visitor to these shores, a sei whale, scouring the shallower waters for tasty treats. As the afternoon wore on, worsening conditions and a setting sun meant further sightings were not the order of the day. The navy also made a reappearance and the patrolling began in earnest once again…..they were still there when the sunlight faded and the Minch was bathed in the light of the full moon.

Even with the high winds, and in between the mild squalls (otherwise translated as torrential downpours), visibility for navy vessel spotting has been good! Gaps in the rain (apparently “nature’s way of washing the Scottish cows”) on Wednesday morning allowed us to spot no fewer than 6 navy vessels ducking and diving through the Minch – one minute they were there, the next….gone! No animals so far and even the birds appear to be having a bit of a day off!

Having checked the forecast, it’s not looking good for the coming days however we can but hope that the guts are taken out of the gale force winds currently making their way towards the Outer Hebrides before it hits land this side of Skye. (Not that I want folk in the isles to suffer of course…..but you’d guess they were used to the winds by now!)

The gale force winds that are blowing over us provide plenty of time for us to think about the navy activity that is happening here in the Minch. Exercise Joint Warrior happens twice a year for two weeks at a time (until a few years ago it was three times a year). Eight nations descend upon Scottish coastal waters to train with the UK to prepare for war. Joint Warrior is the biggest joint nations military exercise in Europe and it’s happening here, right here.

The wind has not only given us time to think about this but to talk to the community around us. Those who live here are all too familiar with the war games being played out on their doorstep. Fishermen, commercial whale watch operators and residents alike, all report that when they start seeing navy activity in the Minch, they stop seeing marine wildlife. And it’s not just the Minch that is feeling the brunt of all this military activity – the military training is occurring throughout the UK, including at Cape Wrath and Pembrokeshire.

The MoD state in recent press releases that it recognises the impact of military activity and takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously. WDCS have requested details of the measures taken by the MoD to ensure that the marine environment is fully protected during these games that involve anti-submarine warfare, counterterrorism, close-air support, electronic warfare and minesweeping training. But the truth is, after sustained activities including almost 60 years of on-going military exercises and no on-the-ground environmental monitoring to date, we’re not sure that the MoD is taking its environmental responsibilities seriously enough. Is the MoD doing enough to ensure the protection of the marine environment?

As far as we are aware the MoD has conducted no Environmental Impact Statement that considers the long term and cumulative impacts of continuously conducting such massive exercises in the Minch, or elsewhere. All other marine users, for example oil and gas and marine renewable industries, are expected to demonstrate environmental responsibility before being allowed to operate in the marine environment (although of course there remain flaws in this process) and we should expect no less from the MoD.

We look forward to receiving a response from the MoD to our request for information about the exercise and to working with them to ensure increased efforts towards ensuring the protection of our marine species in the future - in the Minch, and everywhere that they exercise.