Marine Mammal and Seabird watching with CalMac Ferries July 2025
In July 2025 we once again joined forces with Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) and Mammal Society to run a very successful three days of marine mammal and bird watching on board CalMac Ferries MV Loch Seaforth sailing between Ullapool and Stornoway. It is fast becoming a date to get in your diary for anyone interested in seeing whales and dolphins in Scottish waters and this year we once again enjoyed some incredible encounters and all from a scheduled ferry.
A Minke Whale, one of 48 (!!) seen over 3 days.
The waters of the Minch are clearly rich feeding for a variety of marine megafauna and we logged all our cetacean sightings using the HWDT Whale Track app and all our bird sightings using ebird. The results were pretty astonishing. We recorded a staggering 139 sightings involving 848 animals of six species including Humpback Whale and Risso’s Dolphins. Energetic Common Dolphins accounted for over half of these sightings with many groups racing into the bow of the ship to bow ride witnessed by many passengers and with a sound tracks of ooooo’s and awww’s. You really can’t ever be unhappy when watching dolphins!
The distribution of whale and dolphin sightings over our 6 crossings (logged using the HWDT Whale Track App)
Total number of sightings and individual cetaceans logged over the six crossings.
As well as the cetaceans we also logged Grey and Harbour Seals, predominantly close to the shoreline on both sides of the Minch, and even a couple of Otters were seen from the ferry hunting along the shoreline on the outskirts of Ullapool which was an added bonus.
We recorded all the bird species expected at this time of year and it was heartening to see very large numbers of Puffins (up to 535 recorded on one crossing) as well as a maximum of 12 Great Skuas, a species massively impacted by Avian Influenza in Scotland. Our first voyage also produced an impressive 100 European Storm-petrels and we recorded Sooty Shearwater on two legs, a species that breeds in the South Atlantic. It was also nice to witness a few other migrants with flocks of Ringed Plover and Dunlin heading south and even a lone Common Swift making its way across the Minch. All in all we logged over 11,000 birds which isn’t bad going!
A synopsis of birds logged using bird over the 6 voyages. - 11,382 birds in total!
Gannets were an ever-present sight on the crossings and often could be found plunge-diving over Minke Whales
Once again we undertook an evening presentation in Ullapool ferry terminal talking about marine mammals and seabirds of the Minch
We thank CalMac Ferries for once again welcoming us aboard MV Loch Seaforth and for the entire crew in supporting the event which included allowing access to the Ullapool terminal for us to give an evening presentation. Additionally, massive thanks to Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust and Mammal Society for once again working with us to deliver such a fun and engaging event.
We look forward to seeing you all again in 2026. Watch this space for dates.