Shoals of tuna have been spotted off the west coast of Scotland! Three shoals of up to 100 fish (believed to beBluefin tuna) have been seen ‘busting’ or breaching the surface of the water a few miles off the coast of St Kildaand were accompanied in their feeding frenzy by a huge flock of gannets, shearwaters, skuas and gulls which were spotted from a few miles away.

A passing boat’s crew and passengers reported that the massive 6-7 ft long tuna were darting very fast through the water and coupled with the amount of diving birds made for an amazing sight. The crew also reckon that a shoal spotted earlier in the day off Uig , Lewis was most likely a shoal of smaller, Bonito tuna.

Sightings of tuna in Scottish waters are rare and these recent sightings believed to be due to rising water temperatures which also attracted basking sharks earlier than usual this year.

As yet, there have been no tuna sightings as far down as Staffa Tours operate around Mull, Staffa and theTreshnish Isles but we’ll certainly be keeping an eye out!