Community Sightings Network

The waters of the Hebrides are one of the most important marine habitats in Europe, home to nearly 70% of its whale, dolphin and porpoise species, in addition to basking sharks and seals. Although we know these species inhabit our waters, we still know remarkably little about their distribution, abundance, habitats or the threats that face them. You can help us find out more.

HWDT’s Community Sightings Programme encourages residents, local wildlife operators and visitors to the area to report their sightings of whales, dolphins and porpoises to HWDT. This information is important because it contributes to our understanding of where and when particular species occur.

Your sightings will be collated and used to investigate distribution and to identify key habitats in the region for different species. By comparing sightings data over successive years, we can begin to identify important areas for cetaceans and can also monitor changes in distribution over time. This information can be used to develop practical management strategies and to advise on conservation policy issues.

The data we collect are not only important in the Hebrides, but also on a national scale. As the regional co-ordinator for the Hebrides, HWDT forwards all the information from the Hebridean database to a National Sightings Database, held by the Sea Watch Foundation.

If you would like to report a sighting to HWDT, click here.