“That was like a David Attenborough documentary”
Our popular floating classroom school visits provide primary school children the opportunity to jump aboard our research vessel, Silurian, experiencing what it’s like to live and work as a marine mammal scientist.
“The Floating Classroom visit aboard Silurian was truly outstanding — an unforgettable learning experience that brought science to life in the most engaging and inspiring way. Our pupils were absolutely captivated from the moment they stepped aboard. The blend of hands-on activities, exploration, and expert-led discussions was perfectly pitched for a mixed-age group like ours.”
This April, our floating classroom visited the Isles of Tiree, Coll, Muck, Eigg and Rum, providing immersive hands-on experiences to pupils on what it is like to live and work aboard a real Scottish whale research yacht, while inviting the local communities aboard during our open boat events.
The crossing to Tiree was fraught with big swell and choppy seas, which unfortunately did not let up on arrival to Gott Bay, Tiree. The crew had hoped to welcome pupils from Tiree Primary school aboard, but due to the conditions, the decision was made to cancel the floating classroom visit and open boat event - offering an alternative classroom-based visits instead. The team headed to Tiree Primary School and worked with the pupils to get hands on with skulls, bones and baleen, as well as meeting our most exciting member of the crew, Paddy the inflatable porpoise.
Much to the crews relief, the seas calmed for the sail across to Coll, which not only resulted in a fantastic common dolphin sighting, but the chance for the crew to finally welcome their first school of the week aboard, as 3 primary school pupils from Arinagour School arrived via our tender for a morning of exploration.
Floating classroom sessions are aimed at giving children a glimpse into life on board and the different roles of both staff and volunteers who participate in research expeditions. Pupils are given the opportunity to explore the vessel, learn basic nautical terminology, experience how we monitor acoustics by listening to porpoise clicks and dolphin whistles and learn how to conduct visual surveys - including spotting with binoculars and shouting “sighting!”.
As soon as the 3 children boarded the tender, their adventure began, with one saying that was the highlight of the day! But as they set about exploring the boat, taking turns to steer and listening to the sounds from the hydrophone, one of the children soon wanted to come back, asking when he could join us as a volunteer!
“I loved steering the boat and I’ve never been on a tender before... It was really exciting.”
“What age can I volunteer on the boat?... I’ll be back at 16 for sure!”
“The killer whale sounds like they are saying hi!”
Shortly after the floating classroom visit, Education Officer, Sadie, and Education Volunteer, Nici, packed up their kit and headed to the school for a classroom visit with the 4 nursery children. With a bag full of bones and of course Paddy, the nursery children were excited to learn all about the whales and dolphins in the waters around Coll, even discovering just how big some of these animals are, as they ended the session with a blue whale race!
“Seeing the boat and learning about the work of HWDT was very valuable. Leanrng about life in the sea around us absolutely fits in with our sustainable curriculum. ”
The day didn’t end there, as the team were soon welcoming all the nursery children on board Silurian, as their parents brought them to the open board event. Unable to help themselves, the crew proceeded to do an impromptu mini floating classroom session with the children; as they took command of the vessel, taking turns to steer the boat, use binoculars to spot the hauled out seals on the rocks near by, and even hoist the sail!
After a busy but exciting day, the team weighed anchor and set sail for their next destination, the Isle of Muck. The crew were eager to get to the first of the small isles, after Education Office, Sadie, had visited all the schools just a few weeks prior, to see how much the pupils remembered from their introductory visit.
After exploring the boat, the children got the opportunity to learn how we watch for whales and dolphins using the binoculars. After finding out the importance of shouting “SIGHTING” so the whole boat would hear, they set about practicing calling out the very important bearing, distance and heading information before, to their surprise, they had an actual sighting to call out! As Paddy the porpoise went for a wee swim around the boat, with the aid of our skipper, Luke, and first mate, Zoë, of course.
While at the science station, they discovered why and how whales and dolphins use sound, to communicate and echolocate for hunting and navigation, and why busier and nosier seas can be a challenge for these animals.
“Paddy swimming was my highlight ”
“I might get a headache if I was a dolphin listening to all that noise in the sea.”
“Its a horrible noice boats make for whales and dolphins, the killer whale sound creeps me out.”
“Excellent teaching, super friendly, lovely volunteers, really knowledgeable and engaging, very safe, but calm and relaxed.”
After another busy day, welcoming schools and locals aboard, the crew soon arrived at their next destination, the Isle of Eigg. After enjoying a nice evening in the local Galmisdale Bay Cafe, catching up with HWDT Trustee Edd and his family, who had been sailing the west coast for the past month, they were soon welcoming their next group of children onboard.
With some very boat savvy children, they wasted no time in exploring the whole boat, even finding all the different windows they could use to spy on the crew! Some of the younger scientists in the group even impressed us by remembering what the hydrophone was called, and being the first to ever compare it to a hot dog! A description the crew adopted for the rest of the trip. But to top it of was the incredible comparison one pupil made to part of the session being like a David Attenborough documentary. High praise indeed!
“That was like a David Attenborough documentary”
“I remembered the name of the hot dog hydrophone thing on the deck of the boat”
“I found it funny when Paddy the porpoise came alongside the boat. It was hilarious because you could see the people driving and holding Paddy. It would have worked even better if the crew and boat were blue and camouflaged.”
“A very engaging, fun and informative experience for the children.”
The final day of school visits brought the team to the Isle of Rum, where the visit started on a high, as the children set about telling the whole crew the names of all the parts of the boat, after having done some pre-visit activities. The crew were in awe at the knowledge coming from this impressive group of children.
After being split into two groups, the children went about learning how to become part of the crew. With some finding they enjoyed the sailing aspect, as they took turns on the winch, before working as a team to hoist the sail. While others were intrigued by how the hydrophone worked, making very good listening volunteers as they donned the headphones to listen carefully to the sounds, before exclaiming they had heard a cat meowing (!). Soon after our skipper and first mate, who were suspiciously close to the hydrophone at the time, wandered off innocently.
“This is exactly the kind of experiential learning that small schools in remote locations benefit from so deeply — and we can’t recommend it highly enough to others. It deserves to be widely supported, celebrated, and continued.”
“ I enjoyed everything in the science room. I liked the meowing - there must be cat onboard.”
“I enjoyed the steering wheel - I like turning it and want to be the skipper.”
“On deck I needed to tell you what animal it was, what it was doing, how far it was and what angle from it.”
“I saw a big yellow whale - a blue whale in disguise, on survey - I had to use my imagination...a lot!”
To top of the week, HWDT Chief Engineer, Lenny, who was crewing aboard the Flying Dutchman invited Sadie - who transforms into Science Officer when working aboard Silurian during research trips - to speak to his guests about all things whales and dolphins, after having seen their first minke whale earlier that day. Always up for some whale chat, Sadie leapt at the chance, grabbing her trustee bag of bones and spent the next hour chatting all about minke whales, entanglement, Whale Track and of course the West Coast Community of killer whales.
As the crew made their way back to Tobermory, the week was brought to an end in the best way, as Education Volunteer, Andy, spotted 2 bottlenose dolphins just meters from the boat, as they escorted them around Ardnamurchan Point surfing the big swell. Poised with the camera, the crew were able to get some good shots of the pair, which we’ll be examining against our Photo ID catalogue.
What a fantastic way to end a brilliant week of floating classroom visits.
“The crew and volunteers were exceptional. Sadie, Zoe, Nici, Andy, and Skipper Luke were all warm, knowledgeable, and endlessly enthusiastic. Their ability to engage with every child, explain complex ideas clearly, and create a safe, fun learning environment was a credit to the Trust. The whole experience was incredibly well organised and thoughtfully delivered.”
We would like to extend a warm thanks to all the schools for taking part in floating classroom and to the communities who joined us aboard for our open boat events.
A big thanks to everyone else who made it possible, including our fantastic crew, Luke, Zoë, Andy, Nici and Sadie.
