#hwdt

[trudiblog]

The Otter Hide on Rum is part of the brand new Hebridean Whale Trail! A wealth of wildlife can be seen from the hide, including otters, seals, red-throated divers, black guillemots, common sandpipers, red-breasted mergansers, eider ducks, kittiwakes, Manx shearwaters, gannets - as well as porpoise, Minke whale, bottlenose and common dolphins! The Hebridean Whale Trail has launched! Over 30 unique sites across Scotland’s spectacular west coast. Celebrating breath-taking places along our shores that look out across seas where whales, dolphins and wondrous creatures roam. From dramatic headlands, to white, sandy beaches and bustling harbours, the Whale Trail is awash with special places where nature and heritage are interwoven. From the Clyde to Cape Wrath and out to St Kilda… where will you be when your one in a million moment happens? www.whaletrail.org Tag us @hebrideanwhaletrail or #hebrideanwhaletrail to share your experience.

[scottish-orca]

Okay I went on HWDT to renew my yearly John Coe sponsorship but they don’t have him up for adoption anymore (the adoptions now for the whole pod).

Which I thought was pretty cool. Only £4 a month guys! (£1 a week!)

Sponsor them!

Photo by HWDT  L-R - W01 John Coe, W07 Moneypenny, W09 Puffin and the one the only W05 Comet. 

[scottish-orca]

Orca Originals created the remaining alive members of the West Coast Community for the HWDT  Its a shame that their sloped eye patches don’t translate too well! - Can you tell who is who?

[scottish-orca]

The Silurian (HWDT Research Vessal) Is currently out tracking the joint warrior exercises to record cetacean reactions. The HWDT team has additional equipment on board this year in order to document any unusual behaviour consistent with strong avoidance (e.g. fleeing an area at speed). This video range tracking (VRT) kit allows the team to track whales benignly using a calibrated video camera and binoculars mounted together with a stills camera which records angles. Using trigonometry, the distance, direction of swim and speed of the animals can be estimated, in order to reconstruct their movements without the need for tags. X

You can track the Silurian here 

[scottish-orca]

West Coast Community - Photo by HWDT Right to left: W01 John Coe, W05 Comet and W10 Occasus 

[scottish-orca]

Size estimate changes in Informational leaflets on Scottish Orca given out at Tourist Information Centers :

I began to notice inconsistencies when gathering leaflets and looking at posters. 

WDCS size estimates changes between these two: 1. 5.5 - 9.8m (18ft - 32ft) 2. 7- 10m * (22ft - 32.9ft)

Scotland’s Highland Council lists them as ‘growing up to 9m’ (29ft) and the HWDT is constant with its size estimate at 5.5 - 9.8 m (18ft - 32ft)  across all its leaflets.

None mention the females being smaller, nor that there are two different types of Orca around Scotland (Eastern North Atlantic Type 1 and 2). Closest mention is the WDCS who note that there are different better times for sightings between the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. There is also no mention of the small population size of the Hebrides community or that the Northern Isles visit seasonally from Iceland, an educator at Spey Bay’s Scottish Dolphin centre however did know about the seasonal visits to eat seals. 

I’m still unsure where the estimate for the maximum 9.8m (no mind the 10m!) comes from. The two deceased males from type 2 whom have washed up have been 8m and 8.5m respectively. 

NOAA lists Type 2 growing to a maximum 8.5m and Type 1 to 6.6m 

* WDCS even lists the maximum size for orca at 9.8m on their website

[scottish-orca]

First sighting of the West Coast community in 2015 is in! Three orca were seen off Quidinish Point in the Lewis and Harris area. Hopefully we'll have plenty of pictures this year and be able to figure out if the rumours of calves last winter was a case of mistaken identity or a reason for mass celebrations

[could-ibeyours]

So I adopted Floppy Fin on the 31st of December, I thought you got an adoption certificate sent to your address or something?