Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust

30/10/2026

🎬 That's a wrap on our 2026 field season aboard our research vessel, Silurian. Thank you to each and every person who has stepped aboard this year.

⚓ This yacht is more than a boat...she's a key part of our team! From a platform to collect data, to a floating classroom - but most importantly, she's home to the many people who take part in an expedition.

🔧 Silurian will soon depart Tobermory for Dunstaffnage for the winter, where she'll receive some much needed TLC after a busy season. Come the start of the 2027 field season, she'll be ship shape to start her 25th year monitoring Hebridean waters!

29/10/2026

💙Closing the season with two fantastic youth groups!
⛵This October we partnered with Intercultural Youth Scotland and Young Sea Changers Scotland to provide opportunities for young people to join our designated youth trip expeditions, learning new skills, building confidence and making a real contribution to our research.
🐬Across 4 days, each group experienced changing weather, dolphins in abundance and lots of shared laughs.
🔗Read more about these unique trips here: https://www.hwdt.org/news/2026-youth-trip-july-2rhhc
🌟These events are made possible thanks to ScottishPower Foundation

22/10/2026

📢Calling all teachers and educators, FREE digital schools sessions now open for booking!
🖥️We're excited to share that we have dates available for our FREE digital schools sessions from 9th - 13th November available to book now:
👉https://hwdt.simplybook.it/v2/book/
🐳Learning about the ocean? Unsure how to approach marine science topics? Looking for something different to spark your students’ imaginations?
With three engaging topics to choose from and plenty of time for pupils to 'ask the expert', these live online sessions are a fantastic way to get young people excited about science and the ocean.
🗨️"An AMAZING session. The speaker pitched this session perfectly for our children. She encouraged interactive dialogue & the children were absorbed in what she discussed." - Class Teacher
💙These sessions are free for schools thanks to the generous support of ScottishPower Foundation.

21/10/2026

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Deep divers inshore movements in Scottish waters.

🙌 Thanks to the Whale Track community reporting what they've spotted, a predictable occurrence of northern bottlenose whale sightings in inshore waters in late summer and autumn has been documented. Read more: https://www.hwdt.org/news/northern-bottlenose-sightings

🐋 Community monitoring is incredibly valuable for elusive species like the northern bottlenose whale. Data gathered by our Whale Track community detects trends and identifies peaks in sightings which wouldn’t be possible through dedicated research expeditions alone.

📷 Whale Tracker, oscarlf, recorded this northern bottlenose whale breaching numerous times up Loch Nevis on 19 October 2026.

20/10/2026

🐋 100% magical. Sample size: everyone on deck.

🥰 Okay, we'll admit that’s not an actual statistic…but if you’ve ever encountered a whale or dolphin in the wild, you’ll know the feeling. During research expeditions, we turn those unforgettable encounters into data that help us understand and protect these incredible animals. Reliable data underpins accurate statistical analysis so a big shout out to everyone who has joined a research expedition.

😎 On this World Statistics Day, we're also recognising our scientists and the huge amount of statistical analysis undertaken on our dataset to understand whales, dolphins and porpoises in Scotland's seas.

16/10/2026

🌊🐬 Wild weather, wonderful wildlife and another adventure aboard Silurian!

Our latest expedition took us around the spectacular waters of Skye and the Inner Hebrides where autumn certainly kept us on our toes!

From bow-riding common dolphins and elusive harbour porpoises to soaring white-tailed eagles and a surprise minke whale on our final day, there was no shortage of wildlife encounters! 🐋

Despite some challenging weather, our fantastic team continued collecting valuable visual and acoustic data, contributing to our long-term monitoring of whales, dolphins and porpoises across Scotland’s west coast.

Eight days of citizen science, incredible wildlife and plenty of memorable moments at sea! ⛵️💙

📖 Catch up on the full expedition adventure: https://www.hwdt.org/news/hwdt15-2026

From bow-riding common dolphins and elusive harbour porpoises to white-tailed eagles and a final day minke whale, despite challenging weather our latest expedition aboard Silurian had it all! Setting sail from Mallaig, our citizen scientists spent eight days aboard Silurian , exploring the waters

15/10/2026

⚓ Aged 16 or 17 and ready for an ocean adventure? Join a Teen Team expedition aboard our research vessel, Silurian! Explore Scotland’s west coast, help gather vital data on whales, dolphins and porpoises, and discover what life aboard a research vessel is all about.

⛵ Learn new skills, meet other ocean enthusiasts and play your part in protecting our seas.

Three Teen Team expeditions are planned for 2027:
🌿 24–30 July
🌻 1–7 August
🍂 18–24 October

Ready to come aboard? Find out more and book your berth:
https://www.hwdt.org/silurian-timetable

💙 Know a young person who’d love this? Share it with them!

03/10/2026

😀 After a slow spring for sightings, the summer season picked up and treated many reporters to some fantastic encounters, guaranteed to leave a smile on their faces.

🐋 Thanks to the dedication of 782 reporters, we have received 7,228 sighting reports of 47,143 animals from 16 species.

👉Read our summer sightings summary here: http://hwdt.org/news/summersightings2026

📷 ©Jonathan

02/10/2026

🐬We're delighted to share our new Bottlenose Dolphin Catalogue! This new catalogues brings together 25 years of data and features 120 individual bottlenose dolphins recorded and photographed in the waters off the west coast of Scotland. The resource provides a vital foundation to explore how bottlenose dolphins use different areas, associations between individuals and group composition, and how these change and develop over time.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Off the west coast, three different groups of bottlenose dolphins have been recorded: the Inner Hebrides community​, the Sound of Barra community​ and, in recent years, a small group has taken up a regular presence in the Clyde.

🔗 Read more and explore the catalogue: https://www.hwdt.org/news/bottlenose-catalogue-launch

🤝 People reporting their sightings and sending in photographs have been fundamental to creating this new catalogue. Thanks to the thousands of people who get involved each year, we know so much more about the different species we find off Scotland’s coast.

01/10/2026

🐋 Our penultimate research expedition of the 2026 field season delivered on many fronts – bow riding common dolphins, an island adventure, bouncing through a 3-metre swell, a smidge of seasickness and to top it all off, a minke whale feeding frenzy!

🔗Read all about the adventure: https://www.hwdt.org/news/hwdt14-2027

💙 A massive thank you to the team who joined us aboard: Helen, Jane, Del, Jane, Emer and Nat. This vital monitoring work couldn't be undertaken without you! Thank you for being part of efforts to better understand and protect our seas.