As our time on the Isle of Skye approached its end, we booked a photographic boat trip from Portree, with the hope of being able to view some sea eagles (white-tailed eagles).
The weather was perfect: sunny, very little wind, and as we headed away from harbour we had great views across to the mountains.
It wasn't long before we had our first sighting of two sea eagles, sitting in trees high up on the cliff face. They didn't seem very interested in the fish that was cast over board, maybe not surprising as it was a late afternoon boat trip. So we moved on and started to cross the Sound of Raasay when we suddenly caught a glimpse of two porpoise. We were told they don't like boats and so they dropped below the water surface shortly after, but I managed to get a shot of the dorsal fin in the distance!
As we continued the trip, we had some great views of common seals on the rocks, as well as the cormorants that were sunning themselves:
We continued to another potential sea eagle location and scoured the cliff edges and trees for any occupants. It looked like it was going to be unfruitful when we noticed a lone sea eagle flying in and landing in a tree. This one also didn't seem interested in food, but at one point it left the tree and flew around for a while giving us some really nice views (although from a distance):
The most exciting part of the trip came as we headed back across the Sound, when in the distance we saw a pod of dolphins approaching us at great speed. Leaping out of the water as they came, it was a great moment.
With the boat bobbing up and down in the water, it was a real challenge to get an accurate focus point on the photos, but fortunately I managed to get a few shots which were almost right:
The dolphins came right up to the boat and swam around it before heading off - a very cool moment!
As the boat engine was started up again, I noticed a couple of gannets close by and managed to snatch a few photos as they took off and past behind us
As we headed back to Portree we passed the spot where we saw the first sea eagle. It was still sitting in the same tree, showing no interest in the fish that was cast out for it!
Soon we were back on land after a very enjoyable couple of hours, and would very much recommend such boat trips, especially if taken in the early morning when the eagles are likely to be more interested in the food.