Marine Mammal Medics in the Wester Ross area.
Today our coordinator, Donna, is helping the BDMLR Skye team with a fundraising stall at the Kyle of Lochalsh Maritime Weekend. Lots of bones to look at and toys to buy plus some amazing artwork from the children of Broadford Primary School 🐬🐋🦭
On Sunday we received notification of three Pilot Whales (two adults and one small calf) that had been in Loch a’ Chàirn Bhàin near the Kylesku bridge for over 24 hours. This is a narrow loch with a narrow entrance that forks beyond the bridge into three areas that would be dangerous for a Pelagic, deep water species to be; with shallow beaches, increasing the risk of stranding.
In addition to the less than ideal location there are also a number of boats in that area putting them at risk of disturbance and possible separation of the calf from its mother.
So at first light on Monday, our medics began shifts keeping a vigil over the animals, watching that they didn’t stray beyond the bridge, boats didn’t get too near to them and so we were close by with rescue kit in case they stranded.
We had two sleepless nights worrying about them and two very long days of watching over them during daylight hours, then after they hadn’t been seen for several hours, we checked all parts of the loch and beaches; determining they must finally have left for the safer, deeper water of the Minch and head office gave the all clear for us to end our watch.
The scenery was stunning, the weather very changeable, beautiful sunshine mixed with bitterly cold wind and rain, when it was calm the midgies were vicious and the spiders fed well! We were all very relieved for the happy ending!
Medics involved were Emma, Kris, Greg, Mathilde, Jo, Declan, Dan, Assistant Area Coordinator Leigh and Area Coordinator Donna, plus many more on standby in case of a stranding.
Thank you for all involved, including a special thank you to Declan who travelled up from Kyle of Lochalsh with the Skye rescue kit in case it was needed, to Kylesku Lodges who allowed us to park and watch on their land and the biggest thank you goes to Sara and her lovely husband for the initial report and for allowing us to invade their holiday and provide us with shelter from the worst of the weather.
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Yesterday was a sad day for the Wester Ross team. This poor Common Seal pup had been on a hot, busy beach in Durness all day when eventually it was reported to BDMLR.
Our medic Emma attended the call out, the poor wee mite was lethargic, had a swollen muzzle and was showing signs of severe dehydration. It was agreed with Head Office that this pup urgently needed veterinary attention.
Emma took the pup to the vets 70 miles away in Thurso; where the vet concluded it was suffering from severe overheating, it had purple gums showing lack of oxygen and its organs had began to shut down.
Nothing could be done to help other than to euthanise and end its suffering.
Not the outcome we hope for but we realise we are unable to save them all and sometimes helping means not letting it suffer for longer than necessary. Thank you to Emma and also to D S McGregor & Partners Vets for helping this pup.
It is extremely important that lone pups on beaches are reported to BDMLR on 01825 765546 as soon as possible, especially if it is a hot day or the beach is busy.
Please do not touch them, do not put them in the water or gather round to photograph them and please keep dogs away.
BDMLR get far too many calls to seals with these rings stuck round their neck. Please stop buying flying rings and choose solid frisbees instead… especially if you plan to use them at the coast. Thank you x
We are braving the wind at the Assynt Games in Lochinver come and see us 😊
Learn about the amazing mammals in our seas and how we rescue them… We have cuddly toys for sale and guess the weight of the seal for £2 a shot 🐋🐬🦭
Our coordinator Donna and some of our medics are assisting Wild Discovery, Mammal Society and Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust with the guided cetacean watching on the CalMac Ferry, Ullapool and in the ferry terminal on the information stand showcasing what mammals we can see on the wonderful West Coast 🐬🐋🦭
Join us in August for the best value ship-based Whale and Dolphin watching in the UK as we team up with the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust and Mammal Society to run three-days of guided whale, dolphin and coastal mammal watching from the CalMac Ferries MV Loch Seaforth between Ullapool and Stornoway.
Last year we had a spectacular three days with sightings of Humpback, Fin and Minke Whales, dolphins, seals and Otters. This year is already shaping up to be of a similar caliber.
We will also be running an evening talk on Tuesday 6th August in Ullapool, bookings can be made here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/marine-and-coastal-mammals-of-western-scotland-tickets-925787925607?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl
All the information you need is on the poster below. Simply purchase a foot passenger ticket for the ferry journeys you wish to take and join us for hours of blubbery fun in the Minch!
See you there.
Rachael & Dan
Well done Katie Tunn on winning the Tim Bain Memorial Award! Katie is an Area Coordinator in Skye and her dedication to BDMLR, her medics and the animals is unwavering 🩵💙
So well deserved 💙
Our Area Coordinator Donna was very grateful for the warm, dry, sunny weather yesterday for cleaning down the kit following Saturday’s training!
It made the job much easier than it was after last year’s course when her work building had to be turned into a BDMLR laundrette for a week due to the cold and rain 🤣
We had a fantastic training day on Saturday at Clachtoll, the weather was stunning and we trained 13 new medics for the Wester Ross/NW area and a few others that had travelled over from the East Coast and will be joining the Caithness and Inverness teams! Thank you to Sara, James and Colin for coming up to run the course and to Wester Ross medic Karen for helping and taking photos.
Here are a few photos of what we got up to!
If you would like to join BDMLR and learn how to help Marine Animals there are still courses available this year visit https://bdmlr.org.uk/course to find your closest course.
📸 📸 by Medic Karen & AC Donna
A very sad event has taken place in Sanday
UPDATE: Sadly the remaining 12 pilot whales have been euthanased. Please click the link below to find out more.
🚨🚨🚨 MASS STRANDING ONGOING
BDMLR medics in Sanday, Orkney are currently dealing with a mass stranding of 77 pilot whales and are working hard to manage this incredibly difficult situation.
Please click the link here: https://bdmlr.org.uk/pilot-whale-mass-stranding-orkney to find out more - further updates will be added as the incident progresses.
Yesterday saw another epic journey for a wee Common Seal pup from Lewis (and for our area coordinator).
Lola was found alone on the top of the slipway at the Larsiadar Mussel Farm on the West side of Lewis near the Bernera bridge. She is approximately one week old and weighs a tiny 6kg!!
Initially reported by the Mussel farm workers, she was assessed by BDMLR Hebrides medics Debra, Jim and Mike and after liaising with British Divers Marine Life Rescue head office; it was decided she needed to be lifted.
She was taken to Stornoway vets who gave her the all clear for travel, then given to Scottish SPCA officer John for overnight care who loaded her onto the Stornoway CalMac ferry to Ullapool at 6:30am.
Donna collected her in Ullapool; setting off for Scottish SPCA National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Fishcross stopping to see BDMLR Inverness & Moray coordinator Dave for a feed on the way through!
On arrival at the rescue centre she was renamed ‘Squid’ by Donna to fit in with their sea creatures name theme.
A fabulous cooperative effort by BDMLR team members from 3 different areas and the SSPCA, an epic 315 mile journey for this wee pup and total 453 miles driven by Donna!
https://www.justgiving.com/page/wester-ross
Today our team had a call out to a pup at Ardvar in Assynt.
Medics Leigh and Joanne attended the call out, meeting up with Becky who had reported it.
The pup was going in and out of the water but was clearly very underweight; so after liaising with Lewis (head office) who secured it a place with Clare at Caithness Seal Rehab & Release, the decision was made to lift the pup.
The next time it came ashore Jo and Becky distracted the pup while Leigh came in from behind to catch and lift it.
It was then relayed by Jo up to Emma up in Durness, who took it the rest of the journey.
Pup was a female weighing in at just 6.6kg and has been named Briana Bean (Briana after Becky’s dad and Bean to fit in with the Caithness Seal Rehab & Release. vegetable name theme).
She has been given electrolytes and is settling in.
A successful call out and a fantastic effort from our medics Leigh, Jo and Emma xx
𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐒? 🦭🐬🐋
We have a few spaces left on our Marine Mammal Medic course at Clachtoll Beach on Saturday 13th July.
You don’t have to be a diver… you don’t even need to be able to swim! Just be someone who wants to help our beautiful marine wildlife!
Click the link below for more information and to book your place and join our fabulous team of volunteers! ⬇️⬇️⬇️
https://bdmlr.org.uk/course/kinlochbervie-sutherland-mmm-course-saturday-13-july-2024-wet-course-s
Come and visit us at the Gairloch Highland Gathering we are in the Craft tent between Arctic Convoy Museum and Bridge Cottage Art Cafe
We will be at The Gairloch Highland Gathering tomorrow (Saturday 29th June) at Sands Caravan And Camping selling our marine themed soft toys and will have a “Guess the weight of the Seal Pup” to win a Nature Planet ‘Splash Seal’ plush 🦭🦭 to raise funds to purchase more kit items for the Wester Ross area.
Come along to our stall to learn more about how we help our amazing Marine Wildlife and what you can do to help too 💙
Our lovely little pups are getting a lot of media attention! Thank you to Iona from the Ross-shire Journal for this article… raising awareness of what to do if you find a lone pup and of the work British Divers Marine Life Rescue do is both important and very much appreciated 🦭🦭💙
“It tugs at your heartstrings every time” says a Wester Ross BDMLR volunteer, who has seen five seal pups rescued over the last few weeks.
Another day, another Common seal pup relay!
‘Ben’ spent two days on a beach in Benbecula before he was able to be taken to the vets in North Uist, from there he made the journey up through the islands to Stornoway with the help of Scottish SPCA officer John, boarded the Stornoway ferry when he was looked after by CalMac employee hebrideanphotography, our coordinator Donna collected him at Ullapool and took him the remaining part of his journey up to Caithness Seal Rehab & Release.
On Sunday the Skye team were busy too with a pup that had been alone for 24 hours, Karen and Kathryn drove it the whole 225 miles to SSPCA Fishcross Wildlife Hospital in Alloa!!
We keep sharing this link but please help if you can, seal pup rescues are very expensive and BDMLR is a small charity reliant solely on donations.
https://www.justgiving.com/page/wester-ross
Can you please help?
We are looking for lockable, waterproof outdoor storage approximately 150cm x 100cm x 50cm or larger for our Gairloch Rescue Kit and Seal crates.
Currently our kit is kept inside Gairloch Marine Wildlife Centre where it is safe and dry but also not accessible to all local medics unless Donna is about with the keys… on Friday we had a call to a seal at Inverewe gardens while Donna was out of the area taking 2 other seal pups to Caithness meaning there was no access to the seal kit.
Does anybody in the Wester Ross area have anything suitable they no longer need?
Thank you.
Yesterday was a very busy Seal pup day for the Wester Ross and Skye teams! 🦭🦭🦭🦭
Firstly, there were these two cuties; who after being found alone on Stornoway Airport beach, spent a night with BDMLR Hebrides Assistant Coordinator Cristina in Harris, who was able to give them fluids, before being put on the 7am CalMac ferry to Ullapool where they were collected by our Area Coordinator Donna, and driven up to Caithness Seal Rehab & Release.
Meanwhile, a call came in for another lone pup at Kishorn; Declan, Shalaina and Kathleen attended to this one… the decision was made that it needed assistance and so the pup was taken over to Erin, an Inverness medic that could give it fluids before being transported to the SSPCA who will get it to their rehab unit at Fishcross. It was Declan, Shalaina and Kathleen’s first ever call out and they did a stellar job! 💙
And if that wasn’t enough… another call came for a new pup alone and calling loudly on Camus Glas beach in Inverewe Garden & Estate NTS! As it was gathering lots of well meaning but untrained onlookers; Inverewe staff restricted access to the beach to prevent further disturbance and called BDMLR… Rachel, a brand new medic who trained at Plockton, attended with Karen setting off from Ullapool to assist. Rachel searched the beach but the pup was gone… hopefully this means that once the area was cleared; Mum felt confident enough to come and collect her baby… this is the main reason we ask people NOT to approach lone seal pups, stay well away and to call BDMLR 01825 765546 so trained Marine Mammal Medic can attend, assess and assist if it’s required.
Thank you to all medics involved and although we do the rescues; we would be lost without the coordination from Head Office, who do an amazing job taking the initial calls, letting us know locations, ensuring these pups have somewhere to go if lifted and organising how they will get there… which often involves relays by medics from several regions!
If you can help towards the cost of these rescues please visit our just giving page:-
https://www.justgiving.com/page/wester-ross
British Divers Marine Life Rescue
We understand finding a marine animal on the shore can be distressing and you may want to help but ….PLEASE DON’T PUT IT BACK IN THE WATER!
Not only do you put yourself at risk but you also put the health of the animal at risk if you are not trained.
Pulling on the fins and tail of a cetacean can cause serious internal injuries including a broken spine and dislocated joints.
PLEASE DO NOT approach seals on the shore… it is normal for them to spend time out the water.
PLEASE DO NOT GO NEAR YOUNG ONES… even if they appear to be alone… this can be normal too… human interference may cause the mother to abandon them.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE call British Divers Marine Life Rescue on 01825 765546 and let our trained Marine Mammal Medics deal with it instead.
The day our area coordinator’s work’s rowing boat was used as a haul out for this beautiful seal after it slipped its mooring and floated up Loch Gairloch!
Gairloch Marine Wildlife Centre & Cruises
We had a great joint training event for Skye and Wester Ross at Plockton today! 21 New Medics trained and 7 existing medics attended as a refresher. Thank you to Colin and Gavin for coming to do the training and a special thank you to Plockton Small Boat Sailing Club for allowing us to use their building for the day ❤️🐬🐋🦭
There have been several reports of a Minke Whale with a calf in Loch Gairloch over the last couple of days… For the protection of the Whales and your own safety we would like to encourage responsible watching and remind people of the law… Dolphins with calves will be arriving soon too and the same advice applies.
In Scotland it is illegal to either intentionally or unintentionally recklessly disturb a cetacean
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