Everyone looks forward to a
holiday, and it seems that it's not only humans that like to do a
bit of sightseeing!
The Easter weekend bought a very
unusual visitor to Oban, a harbour town on the west coast of
Scotland known as the "Gateway to the
Isles". A young sperm whale arrived in the bay on Easter Sunday
and has spent 9 days swimming around the harbour.
People have been lining the harbour
walls hoping to catch a glimpse of the giant mammal (around 12m in
length) as it surfaces and blows before continuing its circuit.
Local wildlife experts have been
keeping a close eye on the whale and have managed to capture some
wonderful pictures. Chris Jackson, skipper of the Highland Tiger - a
whale-watching and wildlife boat based nearby - was first person to
report seeing the marine mammal and has kindly allowed us to use
his photos here.
Cause for
concern?
Although the opportunity to see a
sperm whale up close is fantastic, scientists and whale experts
were beginning to get concerned about the well-being of the whale.
The organisation British Divers Marine Life Rescue
(BDMLR) co-ordinated a team monitoring the youngster to watch out
for signs of distress.
The team includes two animal
behaviour researchers from the nearby Scottish
Association for Marine Science (SAMS), Drs Ben Wilson and
Steven Benjamins. They have been listening to recordings of the
whale's activity in order to get an idea of what it is up to in the
bay.
By comparing the recordings with
the sounds that sperm whales make when they are in the open ocean,
Drs Wilson and Benjamins, working with colleagues at St Andrews
University, were able to find out that the young visitor was not
feeding during its time in the harbour. By listening to the whale
use its echolocation they also
knew that the whale was aware of it's surroundings.
As the days ticked by the team
became more worried that the whale might end up stranded, a
situation that could lead to another tragedy like in September 2012
when 16
pilot whales died after getting stuck on a beach near Fife in
Scotland.
Good news!
Thankfully the latest news from
Oban is that the sperm whale left the harbour at around 4pm on
Monday 8th April and made it's way into deeper waters. It's
departure was quite eventful, however, as it had an uncomfortably
close encounter with a boat on it's way out.
A spokesman for British Divers
Marine Life Rescue said: "Yesterday, at approximately 4pm, the
whale headed out of Oban harbour, heading initially towards Maiden
Island and Lismore. It then headed southwards from the southern tip
of Lismore on the tidal flow, but then may have turned
northwards.
"Before leaving the harbour, the
whale had dived immediately in front of a moored barge and scraped
its head on the bow. This has left it with a visible surface wound
but veterinary experts agree that it is unlikely to be
life-threatening as, although relatively large, it has not
penetrated deep and has just scraped the outer skin. Sperm whales
often sport many scars and their skin heals well in the ocean."
Planet Science will do our best to
keep up-to-date with the travels of Oban's largest sightseer -
check back soon for more news. In the meantime you can visit the Sea Watch
Foundation's website for the latest reports on whales and
more...
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