A very rare visitor was reported
by Chris and June Banks, visitors from Derbyshire. On 8th September, two
Northern Botttlenose Whales were sighted and photographed very close inshore
in Loch Scridain. The only other confirmed sighting of this cetacean around
Mull was two years ago.
This rare whale was a long
way from home. They are more usually found in the deep waters of the Northern
Atlantic Ocean, they feed on a variety of fish, shrimps and squid. They
are most common in the northern waters from Nova Scotia up to Iceland.
Northern Bottlenose Whales
grow up to 9 meters in length and have a very distinctive large, forehead
and a dolphin-like beak. The bulbous forehead is particularly large in
adult males. Their bodies are long and cylindrical with a small triangular
dorsal fin set well back along the body. Some males show signs of scarring
from fights and most males develop 2 sharp teeth. They can stay submerged
for a very long time, more than one hour and possibly up to two hours and
lift their tail flukes before commencing such a long, deep dive. They make
a complex range of calls and use their superb sonar to hunt at depth.
Chris managed to take these
photographs of our visiting whales and has kindly allowed me to reproduce
Mull seems to be attracting
an increasing number of different species. You will remember the Bearded
Seal which spent three months on Loch na Keal earlier in the year,
(2008). Both these species should not be here, they normally live in much
colder waters than we have around Mull. What’s happening to bring them
into our waters?
Northern Bottlenose Whale in Loch Scridain 8th
Images kindly supplied by Chris and June Banks