With 4 miles of coastline Treshnish is a good place for sea-watching on Mull. You can walk to the shore from all the cottages in 10 to 15 minutes.
Bottlenose Dolphins
The other day I was sitting in my office. I should have been working! But actually I was looking out of the window. I suddenly realised that I could see ‘something’ in the sea. Through the binoculars I could see it was a small pod of dolphins! Rushed out with my camera.
In my excitement I failed to notice I had not moved the exposure compensation dial from the position I had needed for photographing the moon the night before. Most of the photographs I took were very dark as a result! Thankfully I realised and managed to take enough photographs to be able to identify them as Bottlenose Dolphins. It was wonderful to watch them. They were so close in shore, and I was standing near the house. It was some time before they moved off out of easy sight.
Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust
The HWDT have an app making it much easier to record a sighting. It is called Whaletrack. This was the first time I used it and it was very easy. Having taken photographs it was good to be able to identify the species. Otherwise it can be quite difficult to recognise whether you are seeing a Harbour porpoise or a Dolphin!
Orca
I have never seen an Orca, but occasionally there are sightings near us. So it is worth keeping an eye.
A while back I was alerted to the passage of Orca from Caliach Point towards the Treshnish Isles, and we rushed out for a look! We scanned the flat calm sea for sightings, without any luck. We watched an Otter swim ashore from quite a distance offshore. The sea was mirror calm which makes searching very easy.
I searched for quite a while, methodically scanning the water with the binoculars as the sun was beginning to set. I was disappointed not to see them myself, but loved the thought that they were out there somewhere, not that far away. And the sunset was beautiful!
If you want to do some guided sea-watching on Mull please look at the Hebridean Shape and Dolphin Trust who offer sea-watching trips and Nature Scotland.
Sea ice
The rest of the country has been badly affected by snow this week, but we have missed it. It has been wonderful to see the ice on the tide lines of Loch Cuin though!
