Moray Firth isn’t exactly west coast though is it? Still, TJ in not exactly knowing what he’s on about shocker.
My own experience is more to the south of Skye, where I’ve seen dolphins, porpoises and minke whale in the Cuillin Sound. Porpoises I can’t remember when, but dolphins and whales were about this time of year A cheap cruise can be had by buying a day ticket on the CalMac small isles ferry from Mallaig. Still, that’s a fair trek from where you are, and you’d need to be aware of the ferry back to Skye (road bridge back to mainland). BUT, getting there takes you by Torridon, past the Loch Kishorn Seafood bar, past Loch Carron and through Lochcarron (and past the shinty field – you can check the Lochcarron Camanachd website [/url] to see if there’sa game on, it’s mental), within striking distance of Applecross and over the Skye Bridge (google images for any of the above). Asssumes access to a car
I’ve also seen what I think was a whale (probably minke) from outside the Applecross Inn. If you have a car, I’d suggest going there, the roads and scenery are amazing. the coast road is brilliant, but the bealach na ba will blow you away – bit of a white knuckle ride though.
TJ’s almost right about Mull and white tailed sea eagles, but they range far and wide, so keep your eyes on the sky. At 7′-8′ wingspan, they’re pretty imperssive. We saw one at east loch tarbet earlier this year. Probably one of the ones released on Rhum a couple of years ago.
Closr to where you’ll be, we saw a nuclear submarine. Interesting, but probably doesn’t count.
keep an eye on this link They tend to be quite slow at updating, but I’ve found it to be the best source of cetacean sightings in Scotland. Note a minke was seen at Gairloch on 7 Aug. Ask around, people will know, and generally locals are interested.
