MARA

Understanding & Protecting off the west coast of 🐬🐳🦭

08/06/2026

A common misperception is that you never see the 'blow' from a minke . Admittedly, it's faint, but sometimes conditions allow, so on this we're sharing our favourite clip of a 'minke blow'! 🥰🐳💦

19/05/2026

Citizen science photos provide an amazing insight into the lives of Risso's . Not only do current photos help us to learn more about these amazing animals, old photos can too! And they can tell us more than you might think 🧐

Meet dolphin no. 286, aka Libby 🐬

Libby was first added to our photo-id catalogue as a result of a sighting from 2021 (thanks to Lynsey Bland - whom Libby is 'sort of' named after - LyB?) 🙏

Photos then sent to us from an encounter in 2014 (thanks to Colin Speedie) showed her accompanied by a calf - so now we knew she was a she, and that she'd been coming to the region for some time.

More backdated photos from 2015 (thanks to Sea Watch Foundation) & 2016 (thanks to Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust) showed her here again, both times with a juvenile - aka her calf from 2014 🥰

Older photos from 2018 (again thanks to Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust) showed her with a calf, and from 2023 (thanks to David Haines) showed her with yet another calf 🥰

These encounters were all in different years, so although we knew she was here in those years, we didn't know how long she might be sticking around for?

Enter Lady Anne Wildlife Cruises🙏 ... thanks to photographs they sent us from over 10 years ago (!!!!) we are able to show that in 2015 at least, when accompanied by a calf, she hung about for over 4 months.

Clearly Libby also knows that the are a great place to bring up your ! 🥰

10/05/2026

Phenomenal day on the water yesterday as we found ourselves in what can only be described as being in the midst of a Risso's stampede! 🐬 At least 3 mums and their young calves were being chased & harassed as they made their way down through the at super-speeds!

Excitingly ... 2 of the mums were the same individuals encountered by just south of here 10 days ago! 🥰🎉

Both Sula and Perdita have been recorded in the area multiple times since 2016, more often than not with a youngster!

Stay safe out there little ones 😘

04/05/2026

Collaboration is key to furthering our understanding of Risso's off the west coast of and we can never be sent too many photos to compare against our ever-expanding photo-id catalogue - nor can we ever be too grateful! Your photos help us increase our understanding of these remarkable creatures, by helping us decipher Risso's dolphin social structure, behaviour and habitat use.

Thankfully, Conor Ryan (aka ) did exactly that and sent us photographs taken during an encounter with Risso's off the Shiant Isles whilst on-board a NatGeo Lindblad Expedition. From his (and passengers) images, we were able to identify 11 known individuals, including 6 known , two of which were accompanied by young calves - a really exciting sighting on many counts - see photos for some of the details.

We couldn't do this without your ... they say it takes a community to raise a child, as it does to protect a ! 🐬🥰📷💙

01/05/2026

A glorious welcome back out onto the water! Beautiful conditions and some amazing sightings - including Risso's 040 (aka Jackie) who has been visiting the area almost every year since 2013! 😍🐬🌊☀️💙

16/04/2026

has reopened its annual hunting season with up to 1,641 minke whales allowed to be killed. Over 60% of the 452 whales killed last year were female, over 60% of them were pregnant.

The harsh reality of the various dangers minke whale face in the North Atlantic make this encounter with a very curious juvenile minke whale all the more special 🐳💙🥰

31/03/2026

What better way to spend 20 seconds of your day than to watch common do what they do best - put a smile on your face!!🐬🥰

23/03/2026

Yesterday was International seal day and as we're lucky enough to have both harbour and grey here in the OuterHebrides, we thought we'd honour them with a wee shout-out! 🦭🦭

06/03/2026

Around 23 species of cetacean have been recorded in the waters off the west coast of Scotland, some are resident whilst some are seasonal visitors. Here's a wee selection of some of the more frequently encountered species - in addition to our beloved Risso's dolphins of course! 😇🤩🥰

23/02/2026

Risso's rely on the waters off the Western Isles for breeding, feeding and socialising. Unsurprisingly, they are one of MARA's focal study subjects & we've got loads to tell you about them in the coming weeks/months! 🐬🐙 🥰🌊

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