The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust monitors the movement and behaviour of cetaceans in the Inner Hebrides and beyond.
Check out their online sightings tracker to keep up to date with the wildlife recently spotted in your chosen destination – minke whales, common dolphins, porpoises, basking sharks – and report your own sightings during your trip.
For total tranquillity, consider a trip to tiny Shuna. There are no roads here, and no cars, no phone lines or power lines. Just nature at its wildest. Otters prance along the shoreline; deer, eagles and seals can be seen in abundance; and on the approach you may well encounter dolphins and porpoises.
If you’re keen to see white-tailed eagles, the UK’s largest bird of prey, head to Mull – it’s home to the highest density of them in Scotland. Once native and widespread, white-tailed eagles were illegally poached to extinction in the UK in the early 20th century. Reintroduced to the Hebridean island of Rum in 1975-85 and later to Wester Ross and Fife, there are now 150 breeding pairs across Scotland.