Wildlife, whale and dolphin watching in and around Mull.

21/02/2007 00:00:00 Marine life
Commercial whale watching first started in the UK on Mull, over 20 years ago, and it is still one of the top places anywhere in the UK for sea-life. Minke whales are by far the most commonly seen (more than 90% of the time on whale watching trips), though killer whales do put in regular appearances and very occasionally, Fin whales are seen. There have also been a few reports of humpbacks and Northern bottle nose whales. Dolphins and porpoises are common, with almost daily sightings of common or Bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises. Risso’s and Atlantic white sided dolphins are also regular visitors.

Although the whales dominate the scene, there is much more to Mull than Cetaceans. As with much of the west coast of the UK, Basking sharks are becoming more common, and Common and Grey seals are residents. Common seals give birth to their young from May to July, and Grey seals, unusually for mammals, pup from September to December. Birdlife
The variety of birdlife is matched by the quantity. Puffin, guillemot, razorbill, kittiwake, herring gull, gannet, Manx shearwater, storm petrel, arctic and great skua, Fulmars, Black Guillemot, Great Black Backed Gull, all nest in and around Mull, while Sooty and great shearwaters, and Gannets are all seen every year.

White-tailed Sea eagles were introduced roughly the same time that whale watching started here, and are now a major attraction on the island. In 1975 some young Sea-eagles were brought here from Norway (the first ones were released on Rum) and in 1985 they bred on Mull. Since then over 200 White-tailed Sea eagle chicks have fledged here, and now many thousands of people come every year to see the eagles, bringing in millions to the local economy.

Golden eagles too are found here in good numbers, in fact there are probably as many as anywhere in the world. Rarities such as corncrakes, merlins, peregrines and Hen harriers are all found on Mull, and woodland birds include redpoll, redstart, spotted fly catcher, black cap, tree creeper, twite, goldcrest, linnet and whinchat.

Land based wildlife
Red and fallow deer, sea otters and mountain hare are all very common here.