0:00:24 > 0:00:26This is Mull, the island I call home.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29As a wildlife cameraman I've been lucky enough to work
0:00:29 > 0:00:32in some of the world's most spectacular places.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35For me, Mull is the best place on the planet.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49Actually, all the sea lochs are great...actually, pretty much
0:00:49 > 0:00:53all the coastline around Mull is great for otters
0:00:53 > 0:00:56but with the road being so close to the shore
0:00:56 > 0:00:58you can cover much more ground.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01At least at this time of day, with an incoming tide
0:01:01 > 0:01:07you've got a good chance of seeing otters. Just keep your eyes peeled.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18There's some cars stopped up ahead here...looking at something.
0:01:21 > 0:01:22Whoa! Whoa!
0:01:22 > 0:01:25There's an otter on the rock there.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36Oh, wow! Fantastic! There's two otters, they've got a huge eel!
0:01:51 > 0:01:55When we first saw it, there were two otters on the rock
0:01:55 > 0:01:58and a huge conger eel, about four feet long,
0:01:58 > 0:02:01but one of the otters has gone back into the sea
0:02:01 > 0:02:04and there's one back up on the rock, and it just seems to be...
0:02:04 > 0:02:07munching on something.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17You don't get much closer to otters than this, really.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Otters haven't been hunted on Mull, or trapped,
0:02:22 > 0:02:28for quite a number of years. I am sure there's been things that have gone one,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31but they don't really have any predators.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35Otters along this stretch of road see cars and people all the time
0:02:35 > 0:02:38so it's nothing unusual.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42And every time they are seen, people are going to stop and watch them,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45so I suppose over the years they just get more and more tame.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52This rock that it was feeding on is completely under the water now,
0:02:52 > 0:02:56the tide's on its way in, so I'm just going to move down,
0:02:56 > 0:02:58hopefully try and get a closer shot of it.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00Move off.
0:03:09 > 0:03:14We're having phenomenal luck today, there's two otters playing about
0:03:14 > 0:03:16on that little patch of seaweed out there.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20It's a different pair of otters, not quite the close-up action
0:03:20 > 0:03:23I was hoping for. Otters never like to make it too easy.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25They seem to rooting about in the seaweed.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27I don't know what they're up to.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30Probably looking for crabs, or eels, or something like that.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40I've seen, pretty much in every country I've ever been to,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44I've seen otters, and they are one of my favourites,
0:03:44 > 0:03:46but they're notoriously difficult to find.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52Great to come across like that.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55That's them back onto the rock again.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00Actually, there's three! Three of them.
0:04:05 > 0:04:06Wow!
0:04:07 > 0:04:11They've already slid into the water.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14That was magic!
0:04:30 > 0:04:32Do you see? Fallow deer.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35There's a smaller one just tucked into the grass
0:04:35 > 0:04:36and its head's just popped up,
0:04:36 > 0:04:38but it would be nice if it stood up,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41because I can't really get a clear view from here.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47I think it's a mother with a fawn, but the mother's pure white,
0:04:47 > 0:04:52or it's a fallow deer that's hanging out with a goat, or a sheep.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54Very strange!
0:04:59 > 0:05:01It is a white one!
0:05:03 > 0:05:07An albino fallow deer. Never seen one on them before.
0:05:09 > 0:05:14Fallow deer are not indigenous, they were introduced here,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17and I knew that there used to be some in the woodland here.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21I hadn't seen them for years. It's nice to come across them like this.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36This is Tobermory, my home town, on the Isle of Mull.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Today I'm off to explore some of the neighbouring islands,
0:05:39 > 0:05:40including the Treshnish Islands.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43You can guarantee I'm going to see puffins and seals,
0:05:43 > 0:05:46and along the way I'm going to keep my eyes peeled
0:05:46 > 0:05:48for whales and dolphins.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09It was fine when we came out of the bay,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13but just as we came round the point here, it's become more choppy,
0:06:13 > 0:06:17so we could be in for rough weather. Hope it stays fine, you never know.
0:06:17 > 0:06:18Best to be prepared.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29If you were to come here before early spring
0:06:29 > 0:06:33it's a fairly desolate place. The only time it's busy
0:06:33 > 0:06:37is when it's the nesting season, and the puffins arrive early spring
0:06:37 > 0:06:39and they're here throughout the summer,
0:06:39 > 0:06:41then for the rest of the year they float about
0:06:41 > 0:06:45out in the Atlantic somewhere, they never ever come ashore.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51The island of Luing is an old favourite of mine, I first came here when I was ten.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53Puffins can live for up to 25 years
0:06:53 > 0:06:56and they use the exact same burrow, year after year,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59so the birds up here could well be the same ones
0:06:59 > 0:07:00I saw on my very first visit.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05There's puffins nesting along the edge of the cliff here
0:07:05 > 0:07:08I'll get the camera out and try and work my way closer.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13They don't seem too bothered, but I don't want to scare them off.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26That's what I love about Puffins, they're just amazingly trusting.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30I'm only about eight or nine feet away from them
0:07:30 > 0:07:33and they just don't seem to bother at all.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38There's one there that's just coming out of its burrow.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44The burrows are about two or three feet deep,
0:07:44 > 0:07:46and they just lay a solitary egg.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48And when the chick hatches...
0:07:50 > 0:07:54..when the chick hatches it stays in there until it's nearing maturity
0:07:54 > 0:07:58and it will only come out at night time, and get to know the area
0:07:58 > 0:08:01so that in five years' time when it comes back to breed
0:08:01 > 0:08:03it knows where to come.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13I'm going to try and crawl a bit closer.
0:08:27 > 0:08:28Got a bit of a show-off here.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40PUFFIN HONKS
0:08:41 > 0:08:45That's one just calling, it must be in its burrow,
0:08:45 > 0:08:50That honking noise is the sound they make.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54You don't have to hang around for too long
0:08:54 > 0:08:56to see that puffins are expert fisherman.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00Around Luing, sand eels are the most common catch.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14I think this is actually the closest I've ever been.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18You can almost touch that one that's sitting there.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26I'd love to stay here all day.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39True to form, Scotland's weather has taken a turn for the worse.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42This makes my next stop even more spectacular.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Welcome to the Island of Staffa.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52The geology here is incredible, and it's here in Fingal's Cave
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Mendelssohn was inspired by the noise of the booming sea
0:09:55 > 0:09:59to write his Hebridean Overture. I can see why.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03This is definitely one of my favourite, favourite places.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07The whole island is like a huge sculpture.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16In the cave here is the best example of the basalt columns.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18You see it all over the island.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20But here it's most impressive.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24Molten lava's been forced up through the earth,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27and when it comes in contact with the water
0:10:27 > 0:10:31it kind of crystallises and you see these hexagonal shapes.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35It's just a phenomenal place.
0:10:49 > 0:10:54With the weather clearing up, it's OK to head back out to sea.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01That's us just approaching Coll now. Going up around the north end
0:11:01 > 0:11:05where we'll hopefully going to see the grey seals and the common seals,
0:11:05 > 0:11:08and hopefully some whales and dolphins, if they're about.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23Realising how difficult it is to spot whales, you basically,
0:11:23 > 0:11:27you're looking for the shape of its dorsal fin and its back
0:11:27 > 0:11:31as it comes out of the water, but if you sit here for long enough
0:11:31 > 0:11:34you think you've seen about 100 whales,
0:11:34 > 0:11:35and it's nothing but a wave.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46I think I'll settle for the easier option, the seals of Coll.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49There's seals bobbing up on both sides here,
0:11:49 > 0:11:53look over this side and they move over, then they'll go back this way,
0:11:53 > 0:11:55and they're not making sense in the slightest.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Four common seals just hauled out on the rocks here.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13It's time to get ashore, it should all be easier on dry land.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19There's about 15 or 20 in the water here,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23so we'll try and get down to the shore and get some shots of them.
0:12:31 > 0:12:37Most are common seals out here, but I did see a couple of grey seals.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39I think the common seals are more nosy,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42they're coming in much more often, look at this one...
0:12:45 > 0:12:48SEALS BARKING
0:12:50 > 0:12:54I'm going to try something a little bit different.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04When it's safe,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07I always want to get as near as I can to what I'm filming.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Come on, seal, pop your head up!
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Sometimes I'm much nearer than I realise.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45On the way home we kept a lookout for whales.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50And with a much calmer sea, we got lucky.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53The briefest glimpse of a ten-foot minke whale.
0:13:53 > 0:13:54Wow!
0:13:54 > 0:13:58Short, but sweet!
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd