A wildlife experience aboard the St Hilda

As the ex-tall ship St Hilda travels through the mountains and quiet sea lochs of the Cowal Peninsula from the decks we can see an incredible amount of rare bird and marine life. Just below the surface of the sea we can sample and examine the minute and spectacular world of Plankton and we can set lobster pots, explore the rock pools and even fish for our supper.

Bird Life

Over 24 species have been recorded on the St Hilda often in one day: from large rafts of Manx Shearwaters and Guillemots, including Brunnich's and Black Guillemots, to rare sightings of sea eagles. Gannets abound, carrying out spectacular high dives into the sea as they ruthlessly take fish underwater. Buzzards soar high overhead and sea divers and ducks bob over and under the waves. We anchor overnight very close to incredible bird breeding colonies of the Burnt Islands.

Marine Wildlife and Mammals

There are regular sightings of porpoises, dolphins and seals as well as rarer Minke whales, otters and basking sharks in the sea lochs we visit. Anchored off the shore we see wild mountain goats and roe deer and can watch a colony of common seals basking in the sun. The seal colony can be viewed at close up from the dinghy and over the years we have it seen it grow.

Plankton Sampling

Plankton is composed of a huge (often microscopic) variety of plants and animals that spend some or all of their life in water. Many of these organisms can swim and some show characteristics of both plants and animals. Almost every group of animals can be found in zooplankton from primitive viruses and bacteria to exquisitely delicate, tiny creatures that propel themselves with banks of beating cilia or one or two whip-like flagella. At the other end of the scale there are the huge jellyfish that drift over the oceans. The phytoplankton lives near the top of the sea (as they need light for photosynthesis) and are small and light, as they need to float. On the St Hilda we are able to collect tiny planktonic creatures, some of which are just visible to the naked eye, by dragging a very fine-meshed plankton net (50 micron holes) behind the boat. We are equipped with a top of the range dissecting microscope and a light microscope that magnifies up to a 100 times and uses an oil immersion lens and we can capture microscopic images on a computer with a specially designed digital camera. We can even make our own nets and sample plankton from the dinghy. It is great fun collecting and examining these mysterious organisms of the sea which show such a huge variety of shapes and sizes, some are part plant some part animal and some so bizarre, with large eyes and pincers, that they were the inspiration for the creature in the sci-fi film "Alien".

Rock Pooling

We also go ashore to do rock pooling; there is lots to find on the pristine coastline of Argyll; the rock pools teem with a variety of species. Animals and plants are numerous on the rocky shores of our cruising area, which are nearly as rich as coral reefs if you know where to look. There are those organisms which live there temporarily, perhaps trapped by the tide or waiting for the time when they are big enough to venture out as adults, and compare them to those which live there for most of their lives. Its great fun to poke about and see how all the plants and animals live together and are often specialised to live in different zones. Barnacles and limpets, anemones and hermit crabs can all carry on feeding while the tide is out. Gazing into a rock pool we see the beautiful tentacles of the red and green anemones as they photosynthesize and attack and kill the plankton with their microscopic harpoons. There are scuttling crabs, darting fish, shooting shrimps, lumbering hermit crabs, red, green and brown seaweeds all in a kaleidoscope of colour and movement. Exploring and discovering this fascinating mini oasis in a rocky coastal landscape is something not to forget.

Dropping Lobster Pots

On certain anchorages, we drop lobster pots and examine the creatures that are caught. The majority of creatures are put back to the wild but needless to say, a good-sized lobster or crab could be served up for dinner if you so wish! We find all manner of fish, starfish and crabs and marine life in the lobster pots. Large cod, conger eels, dogfish, tope, sand eels, codling, brittle stars, whelks, swimmer crabs to name but a few.

Fishing

Everyone can have a go at fishing when we are at anchor. Small ones are put back, but if you are lucky and have a little skill, mackerel are the most common and any big ones caught will end up on your plate.