Ardnamurchan/Isle of Mull tips
Hi guys!
I’ll be heading to the Ardnamurchan Peninsula and the Isle of Mull for a few days in early/mid September. The planned route will look something like that shown in the photo above, but to an extent I can tweak it if need be.
Anyone who has been here before for mammal watching/any wildlife watching in general, do you have any advice? What kind of methods/locations did you get success from, and for what species? I’d love to see minke whales if possible – I know Sea Life Mull runs tours out of Tobermory, are there any other tour companies in the area?
Any and all input is welcome. I’ve read Richard Webb’s report (https://mammalwatching.com/Palearctic/Otherreports/RW%20Ardnamurchan%20Peninsula%20V5.pdf) which should hopefully be helpful.
Post author
8 Comments
-
-
benbalmford
Ardnamurchan lighthouse is a good spot for sea watching (dolphins, minke and porpoise all possible). Probably a bit late in the year for basking shark. Otter are pretty regularly seen on both Ardnamurchan and Mull, more so the latter. Obviously dawn/dusk tends to be good and often on a specific tide (I think just as it starts falling IIRC). Ardnamurchan at night is also very good for pine marten with some pretty large vistas if you just spotlight from the road (altho be aware that you might be mistaken for hunting dear). You should also get both eagles with a little luck.
Had mixed experiences with sea life mull, but there are some other operators that you might try. E.g. had a good experience with https://maps.app.goo.gl/x7EneK2adGktQ3kY6
I don’t know how much of the rest of your trip you’re mammaling, but further north in Scotland (still on the mainland) there are sites for white beaked dolphin too.
-
benbalmford
Ps a quick Google led me here https://whaletrack.hwdt.org/all-records/ which has all the sightings on it. You can see them on a map and go to a table view that shows you who uploaded which species, so searching within minke sightings might help a bit. There does seem an aggregation in the Mull-Ardnamurchan channel, but as always hard to know if that’s about spotting effort or species density
-
Jane Kempler
Here is the trip report I wrote from my trip from the same general area last year https://www.mammalwatching.com/community-post/scotland-lochaline-september-2025/
My sightings are all on inaturalist with locations – you can find the locations by looking for user jane_tours. Feel free to give me a shout if you have any questions. Unfortunately the weather was too bad to be able to get out and do any cetacean watching trips by boat – so do allow yourself plenty of flexibility and always carry full waterproofs with you! The weather can be dreadful!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Olli Haukkovaara
I strongly suggest taking a telescope with you.