Hello world, from Shetland! Steve and I have had a busy first field day since leaving the ferry this morning. We began with a wee tour of Lerwick where we met some fantastic people with plenty local knowledge and interesting wildlife stories to share. Visiting the Shetland Museum and Archives, I found the Shetland Sea Mammal Group latest report (1993-2003) which made very insightful reading. A short walk later we met one of the contributors, Paul Harvey from the Shetland Amenity Trust! Even more insights and useful advice followed, for which we are very grateful.
In the absence of killer whale reports today, we chose South Nesting Bay as a central starting location with both designated haulout sites for seals and plenty previous orca sightings. We spotted a lot of commons (harbour seals) in the bay and so I got to put the observation forms into good use in several different lookout points.
Now basking in the last sunshine of the day, crossing fingers for sightings tomorrow!
ECOPredS project 