Our Autumn 2021 Shorewatch Newsletter is out! Have a read about Katie's trip to the Shiants, our recent Big Watch Weekend, the new Shorewatch publication and more!

WDC Shorewatch is teaming up with Emily Hague at Heriot Watt University on a collaboartive project working together to understand the potential risks marine mammals face in Scotland from boats. You can do extended vessel watches and gather more detailed observations from your Shorewatch site.

• Find out more about the project here
• Watch the 'how to do a vessel watch' video here

Covid-19 may have put a stop to effort-based Shorewatching in 2020 but it's clear that Shorewatchers were still watching the sea whenever they got the chance. This is a review of your sightings across 2020. (Click the link below to open the review.)
Thank you for sticking with us through this tough time and we look forward to Shorewatching again starting 26th April, 2021!

Is the recent increase in humpback whale sightings in the Firth of Forth driven by a wider population recovery in the North Atlantic?  By changes in prey distribution or abundance?  By increased effort in watching and sharing encounters?  The report attached below looks at the sudden seasonal occurrence of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae within the Firth of Forth, Scotland using data collected by the Forth Marine Mammal Project who lead the watching from the Kinghorn Shorewatch site.

Our latest publication is out!  With the help of Dr. Caroline Weir, we have used a combination of photo-identification data and Shorewatch data to demonstrate the importance of the proposed MPA of east Lewis for Risso's dolphins.  Shorewatch data helped to prove that Risso's are present year-round and that calves are present in these waters in the spring and summer months.  Photo-ID has shown us that individuals return to the area through a given year and across many years within the study; this is known as site fidelity.  Read the attached pdf for the full story!