Join us for Whale & Dolphin Watching with Calmac Ferries: August 2023

Last year Rachael and Dan witnessed some incredible concentrations of whales and dolphins from a passenger ferry travelling across a stretch of water known as The Minch in north-west Scotland. On one voyage they logged over 600 individual animals of six species, a tally likely to represent the richest observed concentration of cetaceans anywhere in the UK. These were seen whilst traveling onboard Calmac Ferries and it is with great excitement that we can announce that we will be back on the ferry in August 2023. We’ll be looking out for whales and dolphins and engaging with as many passengers as possible as we voyage across this remarkable stretch of water.

Between 1030 on 22 August and 1640 on 24 August 2023 Rachael and Dan will be onboard the ten Calmac voyages on the MV Loch Seaforth between Ullapool and Stornoway.  They will be on hand to engage, enthuse and inform passengers about Whales, Dolphins and seabirds throughout the voyages and with any luck they will also be able to point out a number of these brilliant animals.

Humpback Whales are becoming increasingly regular during summer off northwest Scotland

The sailing runs across the area of sea known as the Minch which separates the Western Isles from mainland Scotland. Over the past few summers observers have witnessed large numbers of commoner species such as Common Dolphin and Minke Whale together with Harbour Porpoises and Bottlenose Dolphins feeding in this region. Even more excitingly Humpback and Fin Whales have also started to utilise this stretch of water, the latter being the second largest animal to have ever lived on the planet.

Minke Whales are common in the Minch

As are Common Dolphins which we hope to see alongside the ferry

It would be fantastic to see you on these voyages (you can travel as a foot passenger and park in Ullapool or Stornoway) and in the process you can contribute to collecting important data on whale and dolphin distribution through the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust Whale Track App which Rachael will be running throughout each of the voyages. You can join us for any number of voyages and hopefully there will be many interested passengers who are already making the voyages.

The cost is simply the price of the foot passenger ticket and there is no charge for the additional engagement.

For ferry bookings click here to take you through to this specific sailing timetable.