Common dolphins join us on our passage to Mingulay

127 common dolphins were swimming alongside the boat on Tuesday morning, 10th August, just as we were sitting down to breakfast.

As we were beginning to see Mingulay on the horizon, we all jumped as we realised we were surrounded by hundreds of dolphins!

A huge number of them were bowriding, keeping up with the boat, spinning onto their sides and having a good look at us!

It was a truly magical experience,they wove their way around the boat, breaching yards from us, we just dropped our cameras and watched them in complete amazement.

Their was one particular dolphin that grabbed everyones attention, that was one of this years calfs which was not more than two feet long! The average common dolphin is over two metres long, so you can imagine how small this fella was!

During this same 5-day Island Explorer we have seen basking sharks, minke whale, artic skua, storm petrels, greylag geese, and so much more.

We managed to visit the outer hebrides this week, places like Barra, Bernaray, Mingulay, Canna & Rum.

We look forward to helping you discover, explore & enjoy the hebrides

James (skipper)