Islay Marine Wildlife
Thursday, April 26 2007
Gus Newman, who owns a boat building company called Stormcats on Islay at Lagavulin, was kind enough to send me some very interesting pictures a while back. He took the pictures during his trips in the waters surrounding Islay and as you can see you are in for a surprise if you consider what can pop up from the deep.
My personal first encounter with a big sea creature was during the ferry crossing from Kennacraig to Port Ellen in 2004 when I spotted a Minke Whale.
The Minke Whale is the second smallest of the baleen whales. Upon reaching sexual maturity (6-8 years of age), male and female Minke Whales measure an average of 6.9 and 7.4 metres in length, respectively. Estimates of maximum length vary from 9.1m to 10.7m for females and 8.8m to 9.8m for males. Both sexes typically weigh 4-5 tonnes at maturity, and the maximum weight may be as much as 14 tonnes.
When you see a Minke Whale surface for the first time it's a very impressive view and I was not the only one on the ferry to spot the animal. People were all very exited when this happened and I learned that this can be a quite common view in the summertime. Since that time I always have the binoculars at hand when I'm on the ferry.
The pictures that Gus sent me show that encounters with other sea creatures are likely when cruising Islay's waters. the Minke Whale is probably the biggest one you can spot but some of the others are very impressive as well. How about an encounter with a basking shark just below the surface or dolphins jumping up from the deep. I have created a new album in the Media Gallery containing the pictures Gus sent me (thanks Gus!)
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