EMEC - Fall of Warness Wildlife Observation Programme

EMEC’s grid-connected tidal test site is located at the Fall of Warness, off the west coast of the island of Eday, in a narrow channel between the Westray Firth and the Stronsay Firth. Land-based surface wildlife observations using a methodology developed by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) Ltd commenced at this site in July 2005. Results to date have shown seasonal peaks in grey and harbour seal abundances corresponding with pupping seasons. The majority of cetacean sightings have been of arbour porpoise, with a diverse range of marine birds also observed.

Initial analysis of the first three years of data was undertaken by SMRU Ltd (Birds 2006; Marine Mammals 2006; Birds 2007; Marine Mammals 2007; Birds & Marine Mammals 2008), and a first-stage analysis of the data up until March 2011 was carried out by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) (Robbins, 2011). The processed data and the report of this first-stage analysis by SNH is available for download from the links in the table below.

The collection of wildlife observation data at Fall of Warness was funded by the Scottish Government until 31 October 2015 and extensive analysis of the data set has now been completed. A report providing details of the methodology used and results is available from SNH (HYPERLINK to relevant SNH page).

Data Available

The Fall of Warness data is available as Excel spreadsheets on a per month basis and has been divided by year. It should be noted that this is the raw data as submitted by the EMEC wildlife observers and, while a basic sense check has been undertaken, the data has not been subjected to any detailed quality control (QC), data cleansing, or pre-processing. The spreadsheets and reports can be downloaded from the data source links below.

For further information about the land-based surface wildlife observation programme conducted at EMEC or queries regarding the data collected, please contact info@emec.org.uk.