Saturday, 6 June 2015

Another Mammal Added to the List

Wow!   

 We have been watching the wildlife in and around Ard Dorch for 12 years and have seen 14 mammal species in that time.   Well now it's 15, and the addition is not one that you might expect, such as a rabbit or a hedgehog.   No, it is another cetacean.   3 long-finned pilot whales were in Loch na Cairidh this afternoon and we watched from the shore despite heavy, almost wintry, blustery showers for over two hours.    Maybe they were part of the group of 21 whales that got stranded earlier this week at Staffin island, three of which died.  See: Stranded pilot whales appear to have left Skye
Pilot whales in Loch na Cairidh
My wife saw them first; I had gone to the other end of the croft to see if any of the orchids were flowering, which was a negative.   Selflessly,  even though she feared they might disappear, she came to alert me waving a stick frantically in the air and shouting into the wind.   Eventually she managed to attract my attention and I ran up to the house for a camera, but we need not have worried because they were in much the same place for over 2 hours.
Pilot whale in Loch na Cairidh
In truth they did not do much, staying in the same patch of water no more than 500 metres or so in length opposite croft number 3 down to croft number 2.  Back and forward, surfacing every few minutes and very occasionally blowing, though nothing like as spectacularly as humpback whales which can be seen blowing from miles away.   
Pilot whale blowing in Loch na Cairidh
Nevertheless very exciting, more because it was so unexpected.   I have only seen pilot whales twice, in Nova Scotia and Tenerife respectively, so to see them on home territory was a bit special, even though we got completely soaked in frequent and unpleasant rain showers.  What's a cold shower when a whale turns up!

Posted by at

9 comments:

  1. Gill Terry7 June 2015 at 10:50

    A pilot whale stranded at Strollamus narrows yesterday afternoon. It was successfully refloated on the tide at about 5pm by a group of trained volunteers. This animal was the fourth member of the small group you saw in Loch na Cairidh yesterday, and, yes, they are animals from the larger pod that stranded at Staffin a few days ago. Whilst it's lovely to get sightings of these beautiful animals Loch na Cairidh is not a great place for deep diving animals to be. There is a continuing risk that they will strand at low tide, particularly at Strollamus narrows. There's more info on the FaceBook page Trotternish Wildlife Network, and info on what to do if you come across a stranded animal on the website British Divers marine Life Rescue. I'll continue to watch for them from Perelandra, but I'm afraid my eyesight isn't often keen enough to pick them up. Last time I was alerted by my B&B guests and my neighbours at The Skye Picture House, when the whales had been in front of our windows for half an hour at least!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Terry Swainbank7 June 2015 at 10:58

      You are right - at low tide the narrows at the east end go down to barely a metre of depth, whereas the loch deepens out to around 100 metres as it joins Loch Ainort. We were a bit concerned as they kept going east rather than coming back into the deeper water. I am going out now to see if they are still there.

      Delete
    2. Teenie MacKinnon7 June 2015 at 16:20

      Three hours in the sea by people who live nearby saw the animal safely swim away about 6pm.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous7 June 2015 at 16:40

      It was refloated at about 18.00hrs and it wasn't by trained people it was by unexperienced local men with the determination to keep it alive.

      Delete
    4. Terry Swainbank7 June 2015 at 19:17

      Well done to whoever it was saved the animal. I imagine that it took significant resourcefulness. A mile away and we were totally unaware of the drama down the Loch. I looked today, but they seem to have gone, probably into Broadford Bay.

      Delete
  2. Gill Terry7 June 2015 at 19:23

    Yes, hats off to everyone who helped. It must have been freezing cold. I hope the whales have headed for deeper water now.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gill Terry8 June 2015 at 19:52

    As of this afternoon the PWs are in Loch Ainort, visible from the road, past Luib, just before the Moll turn off. I found it hard to tell how many were there. They seemed to surface two at a time, but a guy who had been watching them a while said there were four.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Terry Swainbank9 June 2015 at 08:45

      So another sea loch which is quite narrow. They need to return up the straits of Raasay or find the channel between Raasay and Scalpay. How do you steer whales to open water?

      Delete
    2. Gill Terry9 June 2015 at 19:20

      As I understand it steering is only done as a last resort since almost always causes the animals stress. I understand that the BDMLR people are still monitoring the position of this little group.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)