Minke whale breached beside the boat on 7th August 2004

Minke whale breached three times beside Wild Free during our Weekend Explorer on 7th August 2004

As we were cruising between the islands of Rum and Eigg on Saturday afternoon, heading towards the Singing Sands on the north end of Eigg a minke whale breached just 500yds from us!

We were lucky enough to watch it breach three times before heading off towards a hurry of seabirds.

All of the passengers witnessed this spectacular sight, and when we put the anchor down, with soup appearing from the galley, we wondered just why these incredible creatures launch themselves out of the water.