Naturalist & cameraman films sharks & seals underwater

Local naturalist and wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan joins us for a week, filming sharks, whales, seals and the magical scenery.

On Saturday morning, 21st August 2004 we set sail out of Tobermory. We were en-route to the Treshnish Isles when we came across a minke whale lunge feeding off the north end of Mull.

We then made our way to Lunga, the largest of the Treshnish Isles, with a seasonal colony of Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills.

We wanted to get some footage of the incredible awe-inspiring Fingal’s Cave on the isle of Staffa

Heading north from Staffa towards Lunga again we found 3 basking sharks feeding on the surface. After spending some time with the sharks swimming around the boat, Gordon then got into his kayak and headed off towards the small shoal of sharks. Using his underwater housing for the camera he got some fantastic close encounters. At one point a shark swam right towards him and only dived below him just seconds before its tail got extremly close to his kayak!!

We have spent the last few days filming seals at the Cairns of Coll, and having moved further North last night we are in the Sound of Sleat, south of the isle of Skye.

Literally 10 minutes ago we had a juvenile minke whale that swam straight towards the boat, and gracefully swam right below us, all on board had a very clear view of this incredible creature coming to check us out! We are surrounded by over 10 different whales, lunge feeding, launching themselves out of the water taking huge mouthfuls of water and fish.

Gordon has now said that this whale assosiation was "the highlight of our trip so far". Judging by his smile, he managed to get some great footage of this inquisitive minke whale.