The noise level had definitely increased on the boat today, no don’t worry our engine problems hadn’t surfaced again, just chatterbox Lindsay was back on board! We headed west past the Caol Ila and Bunnahabian distilleries, two of my personal favourite tipples!! But we resisted temptation and focused on the work, spotting 25 grey seals hauled out on Sgeir Traighe, the first time in a few days we had seen an exclusively grey seal haulout. We made our way up the spectacular coastline of west Jura, an area that appears untouched by human activity. Seeing the geological phenomenon of raised beaches that are found in this area, these are shingle beaches that are over 20 metres above sea level and reflect changes in relative sea level associated with the growth and decay of ice sheets during the Quaternary Ice. We had 25 harbour seals around Shian Island, and were also lucky enough to see two otters; one frolicking in the water while the other one was scrambled over rocks. Our mammal-spotting bonanza was completed when we sighted a stag sporting an impressive set of antlers with a doe in tow, both ambling along the shoreline at Shian Bay.
We made a U-turn and headed into the mouth of Loch Tarbet, spotting a large number of mainly harbour seals at Eileanan Gleann Righ and also on the skerries to the south and further into the loch. Lindsay excitably exclaimed that she had found “Turd of the Trip”, but after a mini-committee meeting it was felt this couldn’t be awarded, and she was awarded “Scat of the Day” title. By then it was few hours after low water and with the light failing we headed back to Port Askaig enjoying a spectacular sunset over Colonsay!!