BDMLR Wester Ross

21/07/2025

There are numerous Whales and pods of Dolphins off the North West Coast currently.

Unfortunately we are also seeing some boat operators not behaving responsibly around the dolphins, with some behaving very irresponsibly: driving directly at the dolphins, changing direction quickly towards the dolphins and staying with them far longer than they should, this applies to boats, jet skis and even kayaks and canoes.

It is very important boat operators behave responsibly around cetaceans as the Whales and Dolphins are not coming in to 'play' they come here to find food, we also have a lot of Mother/Calf pairs and irresponsible behaviour risks separating groups, calves from their mothers and even worse could cause serious injuries to the animals.

Sadly there has already been reports out in the Minch of two Common Dolphins with quite severe injuries; one has injuries on its back and the other injuries to its tail fluke.
Please get in touch if you see these dolphins while out in the Minch.

Below are photos of the individuals and a poster advising on responsible Cetacean watching, enabling you to enjoy the experience without disturbing them and keeping you on the right side of the law ☺️

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15fHonNR8T/?mibextid=wwXIfr

📸 Ullapool Sea Savers Shearwater Cruises, Ullapool

21/07/2025

Yesterday an entangled Minke was reported around 8.5 Nautical Miles NE of the northern most tip of Skye. It is free swimming and very mobile. It was seen once by the Hebridean Whale Cruise’s boat on their morning trip and not seen again on subsequent trips. It has rope around the body and head but the mouth appears to be able to open as it was observed lunge feeding. If you are watching from land or out on a boat maybe keep an eye out for it and hopefully it will show up again and the Large Whale Disentanglement Team can mobilise. Please don’t get too close as there may be loose rope in the water which may foul your prop. Any photos/videos as well as location info would be valuable. If you see it please call British Divers Marine Life Rescue on 01825 765546 or the Coastguard on Chanel 16 if on a boat and you don’t have phone signal.

19/07/2025

** *UPDATE*
At approximately 19:30 the Common Dolphins finally left the area, there were 3 adults and 2 calves. They left Badachro Bay and swam out through The Narrows.

Thank you to Sue for the initial report, BDMLR Inverness medic Fiona and her husband Kevin for travelling over to keep watch and to BDMLR Wester Ross Medic Neil who accompanied our Area Coordinator, Donna, to keep watch earlier in the day and the evening**

We are aware of the small group of Common Dolphins trapped in the shallows on the south side of Loch Gairloch.
PLEASE DO NOT GO OVER IN BOATS, KAYAKS OR PADDLE-BOARDS PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THEM
Any disturbance will prevent them getting back into the deeper water and likely to lead to them stranding.
Thank you ☺️

03/07/2025

So much sand 🫣
That’s our kit washed and hung up to dry! We would like to thank Gairloch Harbour as we use their water to wash down the kit and our area coordinator’s boss, Ian, for allowing us to use Gairloch Marine Wildlife Centre to dry the kit. Without this space we would struggle to get our kit washed down and dried after use. Also thank you to Ian for allowing Donna the day off at very short notice to attend the incident.

02/07/2025

Yesterday was an emotional rollercoaster and extremely exhausting for our team of Wester Ross medic volunteers. We all worked really hard to give this young Minke Whale the best chance of refloat and survival but it just wasn’t to be.

Thank you to all involved in this epic effort;
Peter, who made the initial report.
Melness Coastguard, Durness Coastguard and Kinlochbervie Coastguard for their support and safeguarding of medics.
K MacRae and Sons LTD for the use of their Quad bike, fuel and manpower.
Durness Spar for the donation of food to keep us fed.
Donald from High Life Highland Countryside Rangers for his support of the team.
Alex & Rowan from Smoo Cave for their amazing help as runners and for bringing biscuits.
BDMLR Head Office for the guidance.
And most of all to the amazing team of medics who travelled from far and wide across our area and even two from neighbouring BDMLR Caithness:
Leigh (AAC), Emma T, Emma M, Emily, Kristina, Andrew, Cindy, Karen, Greg, Awa (Vet/Caithness) Donna (Caithness), Mathilde, Marianne, Kate and Dan.
As WR Area Coordinator I was so proud of them all for the dedication they showed and the amazing way we all worked together.
Thank you!
Donna Hopton (AC)

22/04/2025

Our thoughts are with our Devon Colleagues… it’s always difficult when an animal dies 😢

Please watch the video on the post , it is extremely important that members of the public call our helpline if an animal is found stranded on a beach. That way trained medics can attend, putting the animal back in the water yourself not only puts you at risk of serious illness or injury but can be very detrimental to the animal’s welfare especially if done incorrectly. It will cause high levels of stress and could even cause severe injuries to their spine.

16/04/2025

Our Assistant Area Coordinator is running a 13.1 mile trail race to raise money for BDMLR Wester Ross.
We desperately need new safety equipment for our medics and she hopes to raise enough to buy some new helmets and more life jackets for our area. These are essential kit for keeping us safe while rescuing/refloating the amazing marine mammals when they get into trouble.

Please donate if you can, Thank you.
And thank you Leigh for choosing us… we all wish you the best of luck!!

Help Leigh Sedgley raise money to support British Divers Marine Life Rescue

15/04/2025

Wester Ross and the North West area doesn’t have a course this year but if you can travel you can attend one of the other Scottish courses and then join our amazing team of medics!

21/03/2025

This is a similar story to our male Long-finned Pilot Whale from last year in Loch Ewe, the elation and relief as they swim off only to be followed by devastation when they re-strand and die elsewhere 😞

Our thoughts are with our colleagues BDMLR South West England ###

19/03/2025

07/03/2025

This morning we had reports of a mass stranding of Dolphins on Balnakeil Beach, Durness.
Our medics arrived on scene to find four Striped Dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), a pelagic species growing up to 2.5 metres, that occasionally visit the waters of the Highlands.
Sadly one was already deceased, the other three were assessed by our specialist Cetacean Vet via photos, videos, measurements and vital sign recordings with the help of Head Office.

All three were juveniles, the smallest one was in poor body condition and not fully weaned. As no other dolphins had been sighted off shore; our vet decided the kindest option would be to euthanise the small one as it had little chance of survival.

The other two Dolphins were successfully returned to the sea at high tide and after they were reacclimatised and medics were confident they could swim properly; they were released, and the team watched them swimming strongly away from the beach.

Thank you to everyone involved, especially Emma T and Emma M our Durness Marine Mammal Medics for all your hard work, to the local Coastguard crew who assisted in ensuring all aspects of this rescue were done safely and to the local marksman who kindly assisted with the euthanasia to stop the suffering of the one that couldn’t be saved.

Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme are collecting the deceased animals for autopsy.
📸 Emma T and Emma M

06/03/2025

We do occasionally get turtles up here on the west coast too. If you find a turtle on the beach please call BDMLR x

What to do if you find a turtle 🐢

After hearing about two turtles recently found in the UK but not reported in time to be rehabilitated, now is a good time for a reminder of what to do if you find a turtle.

Most importantly,

🐢 DO NOT put them back in the sea
☎️ Call us on 01825 765546 (24hr hotline)