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Orca Lulu's body contained PCB levels 100x above the safe limit. Image: SMASS

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Breaking barriers for whales and dolphins at the Convention of Migratory Species

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Researchers in Southeast Alaska studying whale poo

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The unicorns of the sea must be protected – CITES

The narwhal, is under threat. Often referred to as the unicorns of the sea, narwhals,...
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We’re pushing governments for action for our climate heroes – whales

The climate crisis is the greatest threat to all life on Earth. But there is...
Dolphins captured for captivity in Taiji. Image: Hans Peter Roth

Loved and killed – whales and dolphins in Japan

Protests and criticism from outside Japan in response to the slaughter of whales and dolphins...

Shorewatch’s September Big Watch Weekend

After a fantastic season it’s time for Shorewatch’s bi-annual Big Watch Weekend: 12th, 13th and 14th September. During this weekend our dedicated Shorewatchers layer up and anchor themselves to their Shorewatch sites, with the aim of completing as many Shorewatches as possible. We will then be able to see what is going on at that exact point in time with whales, dolphins and porpoises around the Scottish coastline. We have 24 specific Shorewatch sites where volunteers complete 10-minute surveys that monitor presence and absence of whales, dolphins and porpoises. These Shorewatches are not conducted more than once an hour so that there is sufficient time to allow the cetacean to leave the area and avoid being counted twice.

Here at the Scottish Dolphin Centre, during Big Watch Weekend, and in fact every day of the week until 31st October, we shall be conducting Shorewatches on the hour, every hour during our opening times. Come down and join us and hopefully we shall spot some of the world’s largest bottlenose dolphins together.

This year our Shorewatchers have had some fantastic sightings. Ranging from harbour porpoise to common dolphin, risso’s dolphin to orca and minke whale to humpback whale! All these sightings highlight what a fantastic platform the Scottish coastline is for land-based cetacean watching! So what are you waiting for? Head out to one of our Shorewatch locations and see what you can spot for yourselves.

 Our Shorewatchers all do an amazing job to help protect these incredible creatures so the Shorewatch team would like to take this chance to thank them for their commitment and hard work! We couldn’t do it without them!

For more information about the Shorewatch programme please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected]  or by calling 01343 820339