Skipness, porposies, basking shark

A bit of speed blogging here.  I've a boat to catch in 15 mins!
Yesterday Wally and I paddled to Skipness for a delicious lunch at the seafood cabin.  It was a magic day, and on the way back we were treated to a swim-past by a pod of porpoises.  They came so close we could here their powerful breaths as they broke the surface and see their dark bodies under the water. Then, as if that wasn't enough, a close (too close) encounter with a basking shark in Loch Ranza.  The huge pankton eating fish seemed completely oblivious to our presence and swam right in to us.  Evasive action needed!

Tall ship "Thalassa"  in Lochranza

Barely a ripple on the water.

Looking back to Arran from Skipness

A bit underwhelming, but some photos of Jaws

Jaws, coming for us.....

Dreich

The online Urban Dictionary defines the Scots word dreich as: "A combination of dull, overcast, drizzly, cold, misty and miserable weather. At least 4 of the above adjectives must apply before the weather is truly dreich...."  I'd say that all of the above applied today, and I'd throw in windy and wild for good measure. Anne and I had hoped for a walk in the mountains but with the burns full and gales roaring across the tops we opted for a low level walk from Lochranza around the Cock of Arran. I've blogged about this route before, but I've never done it in such appalling weather! Nevertheless, we had a fantastic day, enjoyed some great views, and set the world to rights. Thanks Anne for a great day out. Hope you've dried off by now!
Today we chose to do it in an anticlockwise direction, aiming to hit the rough scramble of An Scriodan as the tide was dropping.  We set off up the good Narachan track, and before long we were treated to views of red deer on the golf course below.

Enjoying the sweet grass on the golf course. 

The track climbs above the village and heads to the open moor between Lochranza and the sea. Even in the wet weather, the delicious gorse scent from the whins was heavenly.

We dropped down the other side of the moor, and peeked in at Laggan Cottage before heading along the coast to the ruined mining village where we stopped to grab some lunch in a sheltered bay.

Shades of grey....

After lunch we had a pleasant walk along side the sea, where we saw seals and red breasted mergansers, and found plenty of otter signs, before the final scramble around An Scriodan back to Lochranza.

The massive boulders at the north tip of the island were great for sheltering amongst!

(Basking) Shark!

One of the best coastal walks on Arran follows the shore from Sannox, around the Cock of Arran to Lochranza. Its about 15km of remote coastline, ancient villages, caves and wildlife. This week Iain and Joy joined me for the day to view wildlife and explore the coast. The picture below shows the remote Laggan Cottage, only accessible on foot, and the view north towards Kintyre.

As we walked along the shore, buzzards circled overhead, and gannets dived dramatically into the sea on our right. If we looked carefully out to sea we could make out the dancing shapes of manx shearwaters skimming across the whitecaps.

The highpoint of the day however was without doubt a basking shark, feeding on plankton in the sheltered waters close to the shore. These giants of the sea are harmless to humans, but sadly increasingly rare. At about 12 foot long this one was not large- they can grow to be 25 feet plus! If you are lucky enough to spot a basking shark you can record your sighting on the Marine Conservation Society website. Very little is known about these gentle giants and every reported sighting adds to the knowledge.

Finally, a gratuitous wildflower shot!  Grass of Parnassus is in bloom on the boggy coastlines of Arran at the moment, and is absolutely beautiful. You can see it right now on the Sannox to Lochranza walk, and also along the shore near Kings caves. It is a pale fleshy flower, with grey veins, about 2-3 cm in diameter.  The leaves are round and found near the base of a single stem.