The 2025 ORCA ferry survey season is underway and our dedicated Marine Mammal Surveyors have been busy collecting vital scientific data on whales, dolphins and porpoises from ferries around the UK.
The season kicked off with a survey from Dover to Calais on the 8th March, the team on board the DFDS Cote des Flandres were thrilled to record a seal during their survey!
The end of March saw the start of surveys from Newhaven to Dieppe, Penzance to St Mary’s, Poole to Cherbourg, Portsmouth to Caen and Oban to Colonsay, Coll and Tiree. The team on board the Brittany Ferries Barfleur had beautiful weather and pods of bottlenose dolphins as they sailed in and out of Cherbourg, and the team on board Caledonian MacBrayne’s Lord of the Isles were excited to record groups of harbour porpoises as they sailed from Oban to the islands of Coll and Tiree.
Surveys from Aberdeen to Lerwick, Plymouth to Santander, Oban to Castlebay, Newcastle to Amsterdam, Ullapool to Stornoway and Uig to Lochmaddy all began during the first few weeks of April, with the survey season now in full swing! Our ferry surveys take place once or twice a month on each route between March and November, with each survey consisting of teams of three or four Marine Mammal Surveyors making a return crossing. In 2024, 25,460 km of survey effort was conducted by ORCA Marine Mammal Surveyor survey teams on board ferries, yielding 928 sightings of 4,876 individual animals from 18 species.
So far this year, 63 dedicated ORCA Marine Mammal Surveyors have taken part in 17 ferry surveys on 13 different routes. They have recorded 96 sightings of 372 individual animals from seven species, including harbour porpoise, bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins, striped dolphins, minke whales, grey seals, and basking sharks.
ORCAs ferry surveys in June, July and August are now open for application for our Marine Mammal Surveyors, who can apply by visiting the Applying for Surveys page of the Surveyor Network. Do you want to get involved as a Citizen Scientist with ORCA? Our next Marine Mammal Surveyor course will be held on Saturday 01st November 2025 and bookings are open for the chance to take part in our ferry surveys in 2026!