“WHALE!” I was instantly embarrassed. I hadn’t meant to shout it out loud. Loch Coruisk jetty was busy with sunburnt walkers and tourists waiting for the boat to take them back to Elgol. A friendly couple looked excited at my exclamation, but I mainly just got a few odd looks. Idly lifting my binoculars to look out to sea, the long, slender back of a minke whale had broken the surface in the far distance. I still often think of the moment that it reappeared minutes later, so close to the boat that you could smell its breath. Skye is far more familiar to me now, over a decade later. Visits have been frequent and there have been more minke whales, and I even called the island home for a while. There is a comfortable familiarity to its improbable landscapes. Even now though, I find approaching the open jaws of the Coruisk basin a uniquely stirring moment, whether by boat or by foot.
SEA BREEZES
I gave the sea a quick scan with my binoculars from the slopes above Elgol. Only the day before, the last two remaining members of the resident
