L2620 – Scenic Isles of Scotland
- pmh0606617
- Jul 6
- 6 min read
Day 1 – Rosyth, Scotland
The OWE team of Mark, Brian and Dermot travelled up to Rosyth on 25th June for a seven night cruise around the Scottish Isles, visiting Orkney, the Inner and Outer Hebrides and Shetland. Many of the cruise guests were ‘first timers’ with Fred. Olsen, but there were also a few friendly faces from previous cruises. Always great to have a catch-up when sat in port before departure. A foggy Forth Bridge was on show as Balmoral prepared to set sail at 10pm, with the local gulls and terns giving us our first taste of the wildlife on show in the estuary.
Day 2 – heading north off Aberdeenshire
Dawn the next day; a wet start with rain bouncing off the decks and squalls passing through quickly. Luckily, the skies brightened and a few seabirds appeared, and after Mark gave the intro lecture on what we might see on the cruise, hopes were high. Our first marine mammal soon appeared - a Grey Seal, munching on a fish approximately 60 miles south-east of Orkney. The choppy seas made searching for cetaceans difficult, but the real highlight of the day was the constant presence of Fulmars at the stern of the ship. Some glided past at eye level and almost at touching distance, and many of the guests watching with us on deck 7 were amazed at their total mastery of the wind. A few surprise migrant birds also flew past during the day; Curlew, Turnstone and even a Swift!
Day 3 – Kirkwall, Orkney
Brighter skies and very pleasant temperatures greeted our arrival at Kirkwall. The team explored around the cruise port and small loch in town before heading to Houton on the west coast of the mainland. A White-billed Diver had been in residence for a short while, and the opportunity to see this rare visitor was too good to resist. Breeding only the high Arctic, summer sightings in Britain are few and we were all relieved when the bird dutifully showed all its best features at close range.
A wonderful sail-away in the late afternoon took us through eastern Orkney and into the Pentland Firth. The turbulent waters off John O’Groats were clearly rich in food, as large numbers of Kittiwakes, Guillemots, Razorbills and Fulmars started to appear. These in turn attracted Great and Arctic Skuas, always ready to rob any unsuspecting victim of its fish. The day finished with a distant view of the Old Man of Hoy, the third highest sea stack in the British Isles at a height of 137 metres/449 feet.
Day 4 – cruising through The Minch and around the Treshnish Isles and Small Isles
The team were out on deck for 6am as Balmoral sailed south through The Minch. A force 6 headwind made cetacean watching almost impossible, but the seabirds made up for it. A steady procession of Manx Shearwaters appeared, a few Storm Petrels dashed though the wave troughs and keen guests got their first views of Puffins scuttling along the top of the water. Brian gave a fascinating talk about ‘The Miracles of Bird Migration’, really opening guests’ eyes to the lives of our migrant bird species.
Once we passed Coll and Tiree, Balmoral turned into the more sheltered lee of the islands and conditions improved. Wonderful views of Fingal’s Cave on Staffa and ‘The Dutchman’s Cap’ (Bac Mòr) meant the decks were full of cruise guests, and we managed to show many people their first close views of Puffins. We passed the isle of Lunga, home to a large colony of these charismatic birds, and they regularly floated past the ship along with Black Guillemots, Arctic Terns, Gannets and Great Skuas.
The last few hours of the day were spent cruising past the Small Isles (Muck, Eigg and Rùm) and these looked dramatic in the typical Scottish weather conditions of rain, cloud, sunshine and blue skies! Large numbers of Manx Shearwaters were assembling offshore, Rùm holding one of the largest colonies in the world. And finally some cetaceans were seen! A lucky guest spotted a small pod of Common Dolphins off the bow but unfortunately the OWE team were having their evening meal at the time. It’s always the case!
Day 5 – Stornoway, Lewis
The wind had died down a little for the early arrival at Stornoway on Lewis and conditions were good for exploring the island. Brian and Dermot headed to the west of the island to look at the wonderful ‘machair’ habitat whilst Mark explored the amazing Atlantic rain forest in the extensive grounds of Lews Castle, Stornoway. Rainforest in Scotland, who would have thought! Red-throated Divers were numerous around the harbour, along with dapper Hooded Crows, Grey Seals and even a small colony of Grey Herons. After an interesting day on land, we were keen to make the most of the late afternoon sail-away as the waters north of Lewis can be really productive for cetaceans. We struck lucky with three pods of Common Dolphins from the bow, a few of which delighted lucky guests by coming within 100 metres of the ship. Moody grey skies and a flattening sea also meant that Storm Petrels were often visible crossing the bow, a great chance to see this tough little seabird.
Day 6 – Lerwick, Shetland
We were due to arrive at Lerwick at 10am, so had plenty of deck time for watching over the productive seas between Shetland and Fair Isle. Many auks and Fulmars commuted past along with a few Storm Petrels and Great and Arctic Skuas. Harbour Porpoises started appeared to the south of Sumburgh and a couple of distant dolphins off Mousa were finally confirmed as Risso’s once photos were examined. The flat calm seas were ideal for spotting cetaceans, why couldn’t we have had these earlier in the cruise!
Once ashore, a trip to Sumburgh Head produced fantastic close views of the breeding seabirds, many juvenile Wheatears on the clifftops and family parties of the Shetland subspecies of Wren. Sadly, no Orcas were in the area on the day of our visit, the local pod having moved south a week earlier. Back in Lerwick, one lucky cruise guest managed to video an Otter in the harbour whilst stood on the deck of the Balmoral!
Day 7 – cruising south from Orkney and Aberdeenshire, including Troup Head
The seas were relatively calm early in the morning as we slowly cruised from the east of Orkney south towards the Aberdeenshire coast. Deck watches before and after breakfast were very productive; two Minke Whales were glimpsed as they snuck quickly past (one even being seen from the breakfast table in the Thistle restaurant!), two distant pods of White-beaked Dolphins were leaping acrobatically clear of the water, and small groups of Harbour Porpoises were seen close to the ship. A few Grey Seals floated by, and seabirds showed well with several large feeding flocks of Kittiwakes, Fulmars and Gannets, along with more Storm Petrels. Sadly, the flat seas became a little more choppy as we progressed south and cetacean sightings dried up.
Mark delivered the final talk of the cruise, a roundup of all the fantastic wildlife we had encountered. The photos of Puffins were accompanied by a chorus of ‘oohs and ahhs’, and also a few groans from those who hadn’t managed to see one. A good reason to book another Scottish cruise with Fred.Olsen!
Early afternoon saw us cruising past the impressive seabird colony of Troup Head, close to Fraserburgh. Over 3,000 pairs of Gannets nest here, and the headland was white with birds on the cliffs and flying around. The weather had remained favourable up to this point but soon turned to mist and drizzle as we passed Peterhead on the Aberdeenshire coast. A good time to edit photos, reflect on a wonderful cruise around the Scottish Isles, and also cheer on England in their World Cup match!
Cetaceans seen:
SPECIES | TOTAL |
Minke Whale | 2 |
Common Dolphin | 15-20 |
Risso's Dolphin | 2 |
White-beaked Dolphin | 8+ |
Harbour Porpoise | 26+ |
Acknowledgements
The Ocean Wildlife Encounters team would like to thank Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, the Captain and crew of MS Balmoral for their support and looking after us so well. We would also like to thank the cruise guests who took the time to attend our talks and join us on deck watches, sharing the incredible wildlife and scenery of Scotland. Hopefully we’ll see a few of these fellow wildlife enthusiasts on forthcoming cruises with Fred. Olsen.
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