Photo by ©Lorne Gill/Nature Scot
Based on the Isle of Mull, in the heart of the Hebrides, HWDT has been leading the way for the conservation of whales, dolphins and porpoises in the waters of western Scotland for over two decades. The recent upgrade to the survey equipment on board their research vessel sv Silurian and revision of the Whale Track app has allowed them to extend their reach and efficacy.
SMEEF has been able to fund a series of projects with the team including:
- Bringing up to date essential survey equipment such as hydrophones, acoustic recorders for porpoises, navigation equipment and cameras allowing for the best quality data to be collected for years to come.
- Rebuild of the crucial WhaleTrack App. Working with a stakeholder group to test the app was important, the feedback ensuring that the app is easy to use and gives users more control over their records with a new edit function. Data sharing is an important requirement of all SMEEF grants and all validated sightings data from HWDT’s marine mammal monitoring programme and WhaleTrack sightings community are shared with the National Biodiversity Network (NBN).
“Upgrading the app to maintain the professional look and feel and improve the usability has been hugely important. The mapping and tracking functionality of the original app has been improved and enhancements made to the user experience.” Alison Lomax, HWDT
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- Silurian research vessel equipment improvements, covering electromechanical and science related capital improvements. This will increase the quality of data, overall safety and sustainability. This will vastly improve upon the operation, volunteer experience, and data collection quality on board Silurian.
In 2021 and 2025 SMEEF was able to provide total grants of £138,575 to support this work using resources from the Nature Restoration Fund.