Creel pot recording devices to listen for whale songs

HWDT has been carrying out surveys of Scotland’s west coast for more than 20 years.

Last year it recorded sightings of more than 100,000 individual whales, dolphins, porpoises and other wildlife.

HWDT said many of the animals would have been recorded more than once, as individuals and groups moved through Scottish waters and were seen by multiple volunteers over the course of the survey.

But the trust added that together, the reports provided a “powerful picture” of how marine species use Scotland’s seas.

The sightings included orcas, a beluga whale and sunfish.