RIB voyage to the Shiants

[Tringa]

Went on a trip with these folks today - Whale watching and wildlife trips from Gairloch Scotland – Hebridean Whale Cruises

I have known about this business for a few years and have had a few reservattons about the possible impact on wildlife of an 11m RIB with two 225hp outboards, so have not used them.

However, I was surprised. Yes, some birds did fly off when we came near at speed, but others, less than 50 feet away, ignored us completely.

We took the trip today from Gairloch around the Shiants and it was brilliant. Apart from great skua, arctic skua; guillemots, razorbills, puffins and fulmars in hundreds, if not thousands, the highlights were about 10 porpoises, 5 minke whales (one of which was close enough to allow us to smell its breath which is not nice), a storm petrel, a pod of about 100 dolphins and a golden eagle.

We were lucky that we had a really calm day so could make good speed but also see a lot. The Shiants are an amazing group of islands and if you are in this area I recommend this trip.

One tip - go for the back seats. As the boat travels fast the bow is well out of the water so those in front do not have a better view. There is a bit more room in the last row of seats, you can stand up at anytime and not block anyone's view.

Dave

[pammosley]

Sounds like a brilliant trip Dave. Must be great to see the Whales & so many Dolphins

[Littlesparrow]

I agree with Pam sounds good, how much did it cost if you don't mind me asking?

[INHT]

I'm very envious. My family planned a landing visit to the Shiants two years ago but we couldn't go because of the weather. We were going to go with Sea Harris from Harris in the Outer Hebrides.

We did go in May to the Isle of May on a RIB and, like you, I had my reservartions. I much prefer being on a slower boat - you see more. I've seen Minke Whale on the slow boat to the May before. This time all we saw were Gannets and auks. I agree about the back seats - definitely the best. That's what we did. It was fast, but fun.
Becky

[Tringa]

The trip was £99 for two of us and lasted a little over 3 hours.

Dave

[sunnydale]

Originally Posted by Tringa

Apart from great skua, arctic skua; guillemots, razorbills, puffins and fulmars in hundreds, if not thousands, the highlights were about 10 porpoises, 5 minke whales (one of which was close enough to allow us to smell its breath which is not nice), a storm petrel, a pod of about 100 dolphins and a golden eagle.

Sounds fantastic Dave. ....and definitely something I'd like to do in the future.

Nice photos!

Tracey

[ChrisJB]

What a great sounding day...and a storm petrel....oooh, a real bogey bird for me.

Chris

[The Woodman]

For anyone interested in the Shiants, the owner, Adam Nicholson, has written a book called, "Sea Room - An Island Life" pub HarperCollins ISBN 0 00 257164 1

A great read about Shiant natural history, archaeology etc.

I've always wanted to go and see the black rats on the islands, lucky you, Tringa.