Cruises around the Western Isles
July 17th, 2009 | by Nick |
Cruises on board a gaff cutter to St Kilda, the Orkneys, the Shetlands and North Rona, as well as the Hebrides, as well as the Hebrides. Boarding usually at Mallaig. See a wide variety of wildlife at close quarters, from whales (Sperm, Killer, Northern Bottlenose and Sei whales. and of course Minke), dolphins and basking sharks to red deer, eagles and otters. If you would like to find out more about what we see, take our Hebridean wildlife tour.
Island Cruising in The Hebrides: cruise to remote Islands around the Hebrides. We specialise in trips to St Kilda and some of the following Islands en route, Scarp, Taransay, Monach Isles and the Flannan Isles. The trips are either of 4 days or 6 days duration and the itinerary is worked out as we go along. North Rona, Sula Sgeir and the Shiant Isles can also be visited, as can Mingulay and the Southern Isles.
Fears about the impact of last December’s severe weather, the coldest in 100 years, were unfounded. The drop in small bird populations witnessed in the 
The oldest osprey of the UK – and probably the world – has returned to her eyrie in the Scottish highlands. When she left for West Africa at the end of last summer, no one expected her to return. At 26 she’s lived 3 times longer than most female ospreys. In her life she’s laid 58 eggs and hatched 48 chicks, a massive individual contribution to the survival of ospreys in Scotland, where there are still only about 200 breeding pairs. The questions now are if her mate will return and if she is still fertile. Events can be followed on the 
The construction company currently finishing off the Shard building in London, which will be the UK’s tallest skyscraper, recently had to call the council to remove a squatter from the 72nd floor: a young fox. He was surviving on scraps left by builders. After a check-up at the Riverside Animal Centre, the fox has been released on the streets of Bermondsey, having shown the type of curiosity we associate with cats. 
Otters, water voles and fish are all benefitting from the improved quality of the UK’s waterways, now described as the cleanest since the industrial revolution. Since almost disappearing from the wild in the 1970s, otters are thriving, particularly in the south west of England, Cumbria and Northumberland. The population of water voles, highly precarious in the 1990s, is also beginning to recover. The good results of stricter pollution controls and extensive conservation work are set to continue in the new year with the introduction of new European water quality directives. 
