Posts Tagged ‘shorewatch’
WDC orca champion picks up award
Beatrice Whishart MSP picks up her Nature Champion award The Scottish Environment LINK, an organisation that brings together groups in Scotland to protect and enhance wildlife, landscape and the marine environment, has announced its MSP Nature Champion of the Year. The award has been shared this year by Jenni Minto is the MSP Nature Champion…
Read MoreDolphin scientists look like you and me – citizen science in action
Our amazing volunteers have looked out for dolphins from the shores of Scotland more than 75,000 times. That’s 75,000 dolphin watches carried out as part of our citizen science Shorewatch programme! I tried to process that huge number in a bunch of different ways. A ‘Shorewatch’ is a 10-minute land-based survey for whales and dolphins.…
Read More50 shades of grey – watching orcas in Scotland
Every year, people gather on cliff tops in the north of Scotland to watch out for orcas, some of whom come down from their winter herring-hunting grounds in Iceland on the look out for seals in the early Scottish summer. Run by the Sea Watch Foundation and supported by WDC, we call this event Orca…
Read MoreCitizen Science really matters
The WDC Shorewatch team have been recording some really exciting sightings: pygmy sperm whales from the Western Isles, sperm whales from the Moray Coast and orca from the North coast; but why does all this data matter? The term ‘citizen science’ is most often used to describe schemes which data is collected by community volunteers…
Read MoreThe Life of Riley, A Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) Shorewatch dog
It all started on the sofa. There we were, enjoying the sea view when suddenly there was an almighty splash out in the Firth. A whale then launched out of the water several times. My human, Steve, who is a WDC Shorewatcher, was beside himself. He grabbed his binoculars and witnessed a humpback whale pirouetting…
Read MoreWDC Shorewatch volunteer films humpback whales in Moray Firth
Following sightings of humpback whales off Shetland in recent weeks, there have been sightings of two of the creatures in the Moray Firth. It is believed that they may be the same two whales sighted off Aberdeen over several weeks during the autumn. It is thought the pair may be a mother and calf. WDC Shorewatch…
Read MoreMen in suits – The Life of Riley, A WDC Shorewatch dog
Like most of the Moray Firth in Scotland, the WDC Shorewatch site at Nairn is stunning. We were enjoying the views over the sandy beach and across 5 miles of sea to the entrance of the Cromarty Firth, hoping to catch a glimpse of the world famous Moray Firth dolphins, or maybe a whale, when…
Read MoreThe Life of Riley, A WDC Shorewatch dog
Find out about WDC Shorewatch through the eyes of Riley the springer spaniel and his owner Steve Truluck. A dog that writes blogs? Pull the other one! OK so actually I’ve trained my human to type what he’s told; he’ll do anything for one of my cuddles. I’ve been asked to write a series of…
Read MoreThe Moray 'Mediterranean’ shines over watching weekend
September 9-11th marked our 12th Big Watch Weekend for WDC’s Shorewatch sighting project in Scotland. With our team of dedicated volunteers raring to go, we were hoping for a record number of watches. Unfortunately, high winds on the west coast stopped our west coast volunteers in carrying out many watches and impacted our overall numbers.…
Read MoreUK Orca Watch 2016
Last month WDC headed back up to the very north of Scotland to participate in the annual Orca Watch week in Caithness. The event, run in conjunction with the SeaWatch Foundation, is now in its 5th year and once again rewarded the hardy team of spotters on the ferry, cliffs and headlands with some incredible…
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