A spectacular sighting of a pod of around 12-15 sperm whales has been made in the Firth of Forth. The whales were seen swimming in the Firth on Thursday 25 April between 1 and 2pm, around one mile off the East Lothian coast, heading from Fidra to the Lamb. The whales then appeared to change direction, heading towards Crail in Fife.

The amazing sight was reported by George Kerr, a microlight pilot from East of Scotland Microlights. From a height of around 500 feet the whales looked enormous, and the water was reportedly completely still apart from the disturbance created by their...

The award-winning Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick is today (21 April 2013) celebrating another prestigious accolade for the five-star visitor attraction. It has been named as the winner of a Queen’s Award for Enterprise – the UK’s highest accolade for business success – and receives the award for Sustainable Development. The coveted prize means that the Seabird Centre now joins a rare and distinguished group of award winners to have received the Queen’s Award three times in succession, having received previous awards in 2004 and again in 2009 when HM The Queen paid a visit to the Centre to...

An evening talk by marine ecologist Dr Mike Bossley on his pioneering conservation work with dolphins in South Australia, with a special introduction by marine conservationist Erich Hoyt.

Mike Bossley is a dolphin behavioural ecologist and conservationist who has been studying dolphins in the Port River estuary in Adelaide, Australia since 1988. Despite the many human impacts on the estuary it is has great biodiversity, including marine mammals and seabirds. Mike's patient observations have documented the many problems faced by these dolphins and led to the establishment of the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary in 2005. He works with WDCS Australasia, and is...

The award-winning Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick is celebrating the landing of the first puffin of 2013 on the Firth of Forth islands. The puffin was spotted using the five-star Discovery Centre’s live interactive cameras by Rhona Boyd and her daughter Louise (age 10) from Bothwell, near Glasgow. The Boyd family are Seabird Centre members and were visiting the Centre while on holiday in the area.

This sighting is a significant milestone in the annual wildlife calendar, as the Firth of Forth is of international importance for seabirds. By next month the islands will be home to around 500,000 seabirds...

We are delighted to announce the appointment of a new member of staff. Nigel Ward takes on the new role of Head of Operations, a position which was hotly contested at the end of 2012, as part of exciting developments at the Centre. 

Nigel has 35-years senior management experience in successful customer-service orientated businesses including visitor attractions, retail and catering. His experience from within the visitor attraction sector is vast, including senior appointments within the aquarium and adventure activity industry and over 7 years developing attractions on an international basis.

A keen wildlife and landscape photographer, Nigel loves the great outdoors and...

One of our long-standing trustees and supporters, Dr Bryan Nelson MBE, has retired from the charity’s Board of Trustees. With his reputation as the world’s leading expert on gannets and his long-term commitment to the Seabird Centre, the trustees have decided to recognise Bryan’s support with the honorary role of Special Ornithological Advisor for the award-winning visitor attraction and charity.

Bryan Nelson’s reputation is well-deserved: following a degree in zoology at St Andrews, between 1960 and 1963 Bryan lived on the Bass Rock in a wooden hut working on the behaviour and ecology of the Atlantic gannet. At the end of...

Success was sweet for Morag Jones (60) who found the fifth and final special book sculpture created to celebrate Book Week Scotland by the Mystery Sculptor.

Morag has been on the hunt for sculptures all week and today she was successful, beating the largest crowd of treasure hunters yet to solve the riddle and discover the artwork inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island at the Scottish Seabird Centre at 14.39.

Five special book sculptures, all inspired by classic Scottish stories, were created by the anonymous artist and hidden in five secret locations throughout Scotland. Between Monday 26 November to Friday 30...

The breeding season has begun at the world's largets single island gannet colony. This weekend the award-winning Scottish Seabird Centre, North Berwick, celebrated the landing of the first gannet in 2013 on the world-famous Bass Rock. The gannet was spotted on the five star Discovery Centre’s interactive live cameras by the McCarron family from Airdrie: Gerard, Helen and their 3-year-old son James.

This sighting is a significant milestone in the start of the nesting season on the Firth of Forth islands. The area is of international importance for seabirds and over the coming months it will be home to around...

We have announced vision to extend the Centre and to build on our outstanding success since opening in 2000. This would allow the development of the charity’s education role, provide a platform for increased conservation activity and further enhance the experience for both locals and tourists.

A working title of the ‘National Marine Centre’ is currently being considered to demonstrate the increasing role of the charity in highlighting the international importance of Scotland’s outstanding marine environment and wildlife, as well as raising awareness of the need to ensure that Scotland’s seas,  coasts and marine wildlife, including seabirds, are properly looked after...