Seal Tracking
Click on the seal pups below to watch as they disperse around the coast! Each seal has been fitted with a tracker. Click the blue arrow to find out more.
Breaking News
Welcome to Deep Blue
Welcome to Deep Blue Scotland, brought to you by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) at St. Andrews University.
Track seal pups as they disperse around the coast; find out what research is currently being undertaken in Scottish waters; learn more about life in our seas; or get involved in events and conservation activities around the country.
Click on the tabs above to discover more!
Grey Seal Tracks
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Sam
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Sandy
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Stanley
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Seaweed
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Sally
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Scone
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Strahan
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Sandra
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Struan
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Sporan
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Sheena
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Siegfried
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Selkie
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Snood
Ask an expert
Q. Why do marine mammals become stranded on beaches?
A. Good question. Nobody really knows why strandings happen. They occur when whales or dolphins swim into very shallow water and become beached on the sand. When the tide then goes out, they are left high and dry. They can still breathe air but their lungs find it very difficult to open when they don't have surrounding water to support their very heavy bodies, so usually they die.
We still don't really know what makes cetaceans swim into very shallow water and beach themselves. It seems that large groups become beached because they are all following one animal which is leading the rest of the herd. Some evidence suggests that Sonar testing from ships in the area may be responsible for messing up the cetaceans' navigation system. There is also some evidence to suggest that strandings are more likely to occur at points where magnetic field lines cross the coast. However, scientists will have to conduct much more research to figure out what is causing whale and dolphin strandings.
Q. I was wondering how old can a whale be?
A.
Good question. Whales' life expentancies vary but some can be very long lived. For example, Blue Whales (Balaenoptera musculus) can live up to 90 years and perhaps even longer! But marine mammals are elusive creatures and we still dont know how long many whales live for.
Q. Which wales and dolphins live in UK waters all year round and what part of the year would you be likely to see them from the North East?
A.
The best time to see whales and dolphins in the North East is in the summer months from June to October. Within this time it is possible to see species such as the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas) and various species of dolphins. The bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncates) and harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) can be seen throughout the year along the North East coast, and in particular from the Moray Firth.
Q. Due to global warming, is it possible that there could be man-eating sharks in Scottish waters?
A.
The shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) is a species of shark that can already be found in UK waters, mainly in the summer. This species has been reported to have attacked humans.
With rising sea temperatures it is likely that other large sharks, such as great whites, could move into UK waters. However, with the increased over-fishing of these species it is more likely that they will be fished to extinction long before UK seas become habitable to them.
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Latest News
Find out what's happening now in the seas around Scotland and abroad: our news section will keep you up to date with the lastest marine current affairs, research and conservation.
Deep Blue Scotland
Discover Scotland's Marine Life
Herring
Learn about the vast shoals of herring to be found in Scotland's waters.
Sea Life
Here you can find out all about the life that teems through Scotland's waters, from the mighty Fin Whale and its social life to silvery shoals of Mackerel that are the life source for the Cod and Haddock that we are so dependent on. Discover some lesser known species, too: ever heard of a Sea Mouse?
Live Science
The seas around Scotland are our most unexplored regions. Find out more about the research taking place to investigate Scotland's seas, its inhabitants and its resources.
Schools
Looking for some marine learning resources? In our schools section we have educational activities for young people aged 3 to 16. Can't find what you're looking for? Let us know, and we'll do our best to help out!
