The Scottish Marine Wildlife Watching Code

15/04/2009 09:16:57 Watching marine wildlife needn't be alarming

April 2009. Scottish Natural Heritage's (SNH) has stressed the importance of watching marine wildlife safely. The Scottish Marine Wildlife Watching Code was created by SNH to help people enjoy watching our marine wildlife while also minimising disturbing them. The advice also improves the chance of people seeing wildlife at sea or on the coastline. The code is useful for individual people going out wildlife watching and for companies running trips.

Wild Scotland

Dr Fiona Manson, marine policy officer with SNH, said:"SNH has been supporting training for tourist industry staff on the code and best practice wildlife watching since the code was developed two years ago. The code is based around learning to recognise why animals become disturbed, moving away if this is likely to happen and respecting other people and wildlife. To date over 150 people in Scotland have been trained by Wild Scotland, under the Wildlife Safe scheme, and companies have attended from Shetland to the Clyde, and from the Forth to Wick.

Whales, seals and seabirds
"The guidance covers everything from whales, to seals, to seabirds. All of which you might see on a trip to the Isle of May, or many other areas around Scotland's coasts. We are very lucky in this country as we are a marine wildlife haven and using the code will give you a good chance of appreciating wildlife behaving naturally. Download the code at www.marinecode.org."

Feedback from people on the course has been very positive, with one operator commenting: "I now have a far better understanding of the actions/reactions of the creatures when being viewed by boat." The code is there to help people and most people wanting to see wildlife want to know how to watch responsibly.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) welcomes boat trips to the Isle of May from Easter until the 30 September and SNH do not charge for visiting. The island has a visitor centre and marked paths covering the island. The island is renowned for its bird populations, its seals, its history and its carpets of flowers.

The May or Isle of May, as it is called locally, is a long rocky island with sheer cliffs and caves. It is home to thousands of grey seals, the fourth largest breeding group in the UK, who feed in the rich kelp forests surrounding the island. The island is a Special Area of Conservation for its seals and rocky reefs. It is most famous for its seabirds, over 200,000 of them, and is a European Special Protection Area for these birds which include shags, puffins, terns, guillemots, razorbills, eider ducks, gulls, kittiwakes and fulmars.