Marine « Assynt Field Club

Records of Basking Sharks 2012

BASKING SHARKS in Assynt and West Sutherland

Sightings 2012

1st June 1 Basking Shark (no length given) Stoer Lighthouse

7th June 1 Basking Shark (no length given) North of Stoer Lighthouse

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Records of Basking Sharks 2011

BASKING SHARK in North West Highlands

Sightings 2011

4th July 18.30hrs 1 Basking Shark (no length given) Culkein Stoer (DH)

7th August 11.00hrs 1 Basking Shark (no length given) Raffin (MB)

Cetacean Records 2012

24th January 1pm 1 Harbour Porpoise Balchladich bay

14th February 1pm 1 Harbour Porpoise Stoer Lighthouse

9th April 2 Harbour Porpoises Clachtoll

10th April 1 Minke Whale Stoer Lighthouse

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Ian Evans received a visit on 4th April 2012 from members of a local family who had discovered several live oysters in Loch Nedd. There are very few records of Native Oysters, Ostrea edulis, in Assynt so Ian persuaded the visitors to put the oysters back where they found them.

Oyster from Loch Nedd

Oysters were once a readily available, cheap food source but due to overfishing and pollution they have become the expensive dish we know today. They can live up to 15 years but usually survive for about 6 years and can achieve a shell diameter of 11 centimetres.

Oysters from Loch Nedd

The native oyster is listed as a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan as it meets criterion 4 of the Species Action Framework as a threatened species of socio-economic value requiring action to ensure sustainable use.

So let’s hope these oysters

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Cetacean records 2011

Whale and Dolphin Sightings in West Sutherland 2011

15th April Dead Sperm Whale, Kervaig Beach, Cape Wrath

24th April 1 Harbour Porpoise Stoer bay

25th April 4 Bottlenose Dolphins Reiff

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Fin Whale washed up at Raffin 2007

Fin whale stranding at Raffin

On Tuesday 30thOctober 2007 a Fin Whale washed up on the rocky shoreline at Raffin, less than two kilometres south of the lighthouse at Stoer in Assynt, West Sutherland. It was a female, measured 19.95m long (over 65 feet) and was estimated to be over 50 tonnes. According to Bob Reid from the Wildlife Unit of the Scottish Agricultural College Veterinary Services in Inverness, it had probably died less than 36 hours previously. There had been strong westerly winds the previous few days which is nothing exceptional to this area.

Fin Whale washed up in the surf at Raffin

A post mortem carried out on site by Bob Reid on 31st October showed the whale to have been a young female in good condition. No information about its diet could be obtained from its stomach content as it was full of sea water. There

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