Bats, birds and much more are on the agenda for Thurso wildlife tours

A cancer scare led a Caithness woman to reassess her life and focus on the one thing that helped calm her through those turbulent times – the local wildlife.

Jessica Finan, who holds a masters degree in biodiversity and conservation, turned her back on academia to run her own wildlife walking tours around Thurso and has already garnered great praise from the public.

"In January I got very ill with Covid, and then the doctor found a sizeable lump," said Jessica. "I was terrified, and the only thing to take my mind off of it while I waited for a diagnosis was to walk and watch the Caithness wildlife – there was always plenty to see. When I got the news that I was cancer free I decided I didn't want to spend any more of my life in academia, tossed the PhD out the window and started Seawolf Wildlife Tours. Jessica says the name is related to the Vikings who lived in the far north; the Orca that feed here; and the mythological wolf of Caithness that was said to "bring luck to those who saw it running on the water" – all of whom were called Seawolf.

Jessica initially hosted bat walks with her new venture and was delighted when they sold out, so she added daytime tours which proved popular too. Among the creatures she was able to point out to tour attendees were otters, seals, two species of bats, fulmars, gannets, Arctic terns, sandwich terns, Manx shearwater, eider duck, long tailed duck, smew, guillemots, little auk, cormorants, shags, oystercatcher, sanderling, redshank and gulls. She said that lots of "seaglass and cool shells" were acquired as souvenirs by younger guests.

"I heard a few kids say 'I'm so happy', 'this is so cool', 'this is the coolest thing ever' – and on adult only tours 'wow'. It made the sore feet and ruined jeans worth it."

She added: "What Seawolf Wildlife Tours does is walk along the wildlife-rich areas of Thurso teaching guests about how unique and interesting each species here is, even though you might walk past them every day. Some animals like the Arctic tern travel up from Antarctica just to be here, and the grey seals in our harbour are one of the rarest seal species in the world. A bit of new info can really change how you look at things just walking around Thurso."

Jessica said she spent six years in academic research looking at maps and data on a variety of animal species but "behind a desk without ever even knowing what some of them looked like".

"What I was finding out would take years to publish, if it got published, and only a handful of people with access to scientific journals would ever likely read it. I was miserable and unhealthy, and had all this incredible information that was not doing any practical good. It wasn't the kind of work for wildlife conservation I wanted to do."

She now believes that her knowledge about wildlife is better off shared to people who can use it to reduce plastic pollution, put a bat box in their garden, or plant flowers for endangered bumblebees on their windowsills.

Wildlife Walking Tours will leave from the Blue Door Diner and Cafe at 11am every weekend, and Tuesday to Sunday during school holidays. There will also be adults' Beer and Bat Nights twice a month on Fridays for £15 at 8.30pm. This will include a 40-minute talk on Thurso wildlife in a local pub before walking along Thurso river with bat detectors and torches. "I'm happy to run private tours for those with needs requiring specific accommodation on request," adds Jessica.

"In the summer months we are hoping to start boat tours from Scrabster around Holburn Head to view the seabird colonies there, with a chance of seeing Orca, minke whale, basking shark, or any of the four dolphin species that visit Thurso Bay in the summer months. I'm working with the Caithness business fund to ensure this happens in a way that develops the eco-tourism market here and doesn't try and compete with other Caithness tours."

The price for a regular tour is £10 for adults and £4 per child.

Wildlife Walking Tours can be found on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/seawolftours

Jessica can also be reached by email at seawolfwildlifetours@gmail.com or by phone on 07802 833 630.

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