Each year Silurian travels thousands of nautical miles to monitor whales, dolphins, porpoises and basking sharks off the Scottish West Coast. This pioneering Cetacean Research Programme, now in its 16th year, holds the largest database of its kind for UK waters and provides the evidence to support marine conservation efforts in Scottish waters.
A citizen science programme at its core, every sighting in the database has been collected by a member of the public.
SILURIAN FACTS:
• Berths 10 people: 6 volunteers and 4 crew
• Built in Seattle in 1981
• 16m ketch, large and sturdy, perfect for sailing the Hebrides
• Surveyed 100,000km (and counting!) for HWDT
• Used in the filming of BBC Blue Planet
We have been running monitoring surveys to coincide with the Joint Warrior exercises since 2009, collecting acoustic and visual data to help understand the impact that these activities may have on cetaceans across the Hebrides.
Joint Warrior, is a UK led biennial NATO military exercise normally takes place for two weeks each spring and autumn, and is the largest multi-ship, multi-threat exercise conducted by the Royal Navy in UK waters.
Military sonar used during these operations produces an intense loud noise that can disturb and harm cetaceans. At HWDT, we believe that it is important to monitor cetacean presence and behaviour during these exercises.
