Whale Track
Think Strava, but for studying whales and dolphins!
Hebridean Whale & Dolphin Trust (HWDT)
visit site
We have built the Whale Track app and web portal to allow anyone to submit sightings of marine megafauna on the west coast of Scotland.
Why not get involved today! By taking part in this project you can help improve our understanding of cetaceans. You will also help to inform conservation policies to safeguard our amazing marine wildlife for future generations.
If you can’t actually submit data then the website will allow you to view what’s been seen. Filter by date or species, to focus on the things of most interest to you.
Twenty-four species of whale, dolphin and porpoise have been recorded in Scotland, accounting for almost a quarter of all species found worldwide and it is one of the most important and bio-diverse areas in Europe for cetaceans.
The app has an ID Guide built into it to help you identify all of them.
Despite the diversity of life around our coast our seas are under huge pressure; increasingly busy, noisy and polluted. Scotland’s whales and dolphins exist in a fragile state, threatened by a range of environmental, climatic and human stresses.
Evidence is the foundation of effective conservation, and that’s where you can help! With eyes out on the water all of the time, sightings data from the community is helping to improve our understanding of coastal species such as bottlenose dolphins and the occurrence of rarer ones such as humpback and killer whales.
The app has two modes:
“Excursion” mode allows you to monitor your entire journey on a boat or ferry and record all the cetaceans you see along the way
“Sighting” mode is for ad-hoc observations such as one-off sightings from the shore
With your help and year round sightings, we can also uncover some of the mysteries about our more commonly seen species such as discovering the winter movements of harbour porpoises and marking the arrival and departure of our summer visitors.
Your sightings really do help make a difference. Download Whale Track today to learn about the species you might be lucky enough to see and report your sightings to the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust. You’ll be able to view all observations on our Whale Track website too
