Words:
Cal Major

PHOTOS:
JAMES APPLETON

Scotland:Ocean Nation’ is available to stream for free on STV Player in the UK:
https://player.stv.tv/summary/reelsoul-scotland-ocean-nation

Scotland-Ocean-Nation

Scotland Ocean Nation:
Ten things I learnt stand up paddleboarding around Scotland

In 2021, I set out to stand up paddleboard around my favourite country in the world – Scotland. My partner, James, and I are film makers, and we wanted to bring the wonder of Scotland’s coast and wildlife, both above and below the surface, to people at home and to show what is so often out of sight and out of mind.

We also wanted to hear from Scotland’s Ocean People what the sea means to them and investigate our human connection to the sea. So, over ten weeks, James (on a kayak) and I (on a SUP) paddled day and night to capture the above in what was to become my most formative and phenomenal expedition yet. We made a three-part film series called Scotland Ocean Nation, which will be available to stream for free on STV Player from 1 April.

I’ve picked out ten things I learned during those ten weeks – some are from the hours on end spent standing on my board, some are from submerging myself underwater and seeing what was there for myself, and some are from the incredibly insightful and passionate Ocean People I met around the coast. Here goes!

1. Scotland underwater is magnificent

We all know that Scotland is stunning, with its soaring mountains, endless lochs, incredible islands and breathtaking wildlife. But what’s above the surface is just a part of Scotland’s unreal sights. Whilst making our way around the coast, we stopped at a few spots to snorkel and scuba dive. It’s hard to describe what we saw underwater using words (you’ll have to watch the films to see them in all their glory!), but every time I went underwater, I surfaced awe-inspired.

From verdant green seagrass meadows to purple maerl beds, brittle star colonies to ancient native Scottish oysters, giant kelp forests to fish nurseries, there was so much life to wonder at. One theme that runs through our documentaries is that the ocean and its inhabitants are often out of sight and out of mind. This is even more prominent in Scotland, whose peat-coloured waters are often dark, cold, and uninviting. But what’s down there is magnificent, and diving in was such a joy to experience and to be able to share with viewers.

2. The seabed is under threat

Having seen all this incredible life – crazy-looking animals and beautiful, complex ecosystems – I was devastated to learn that certain types of fishing heavily damage many areas of the seabed around Scotland. The seabed is the cradle of life for oceanic ecosystems, and its destruction has far-reaching consequences.
Dredging and trawling tear up the seabed, releasing stored carbon, destroying nature and threatening biodiversity, and I heard from several scuba divers who had seen with their own eyes the stark difference between a healthy seabed and a freshly dredged one.

Protecting fragile areas of seabed from the most destructive forms of bottom-towed fishing gear could have enormously beneficial implications for climate change, oceanic health, and fish stocks, as well as livelihoods around the coast of Scotland. There is currently a campaign to ban dredging and trawling from fragile areas around Scotland – you can learn more at www.ourseas.scot.

3. Night paddles are always worth the effort for the sunrise reward

I had 1,200km to paddle, so I had to take every possible weather window and tidal opportunity to progress around the coast. This regularly meant getting on the water at stupid times. There was a string of ridiculous timings along the north coast, where on successive nights, I was setting off at midnight, 01:00, and 02:00. The lack of rest and disturbed sleep routine was hell. I questioned what on Earth I was doing several times when my alarm went off at 01:00, and I had to force food down, pack bags and don soggy kit ready for another eight-hour stint on the water.

But every time the sun began to poke its head over the horizon, my purpose, love, and determination for my actions were solidified. I would take a moment to watch in wonder as the sky turned from orange to pink to purple, and islands and headlands began to become visible. One very special morning on the north coast, I watched as an otter silently surfaced between my board and land. The cold mornings and exhaustion and discomfort are forgotten as soon as those magical moments happen – they’re the ones that stay in my memories and are worth it every time.

4. The north coast of Scotland isn’t messing about

Cape Wrath is the most northwesterly point of mainland UK and is extremely gnarly. I had been so nervous about rounding it for months. It’s infamous – huge tidal races going in several directions, exposed to strong winds and massive waves, and with sheer cliffs for miles and miles, very few get-out points should anything go wrong.

Making it around Cape Wrath was one of the scariest paddles of my life and one I wish never to repeat. As I found myself surrounded by the craziest water I had ever been in and beginning to panic, I remembered a friend telling me how they had calmed down stranded pilot whales by singing to them.

So, as a last resort, I began to sing to myself. No idea why, but the first song that came to my head was American Pie. I admit it was a little comforting singing to myself, perhaps because it took my mind off the feeling of being totally out of control amidst millions of gallons of fast-moving water.

Comforting, that is, until the line, “This’ll be the day that I die”, upon which the panic returned instantly. I made it around Cape Wrath, hoping the north coast would offer respite. It didn’t.

For over a week I made my way across enormous sea lochs, wind funnelling off mountains, huge cliffs and nowhere to escape. The north coast of Scotland felt real, and I felt very vulnerable, finding even more respect for Scotland’s waters than I already had.

5. Scotland has spectacular, world-class wildlife

The wildlife was out of this world despite the north coast being regularly terrifying. One day I was surrounded by a pod of white-beaked dolphins; I witnessed thousands of nesting puffins, guillemots, and razorbills; I experienced fly-bys from fulmar and watched a seal emerge from the depths grasping a huge fish which it proceeded to tear to pieces with its teeth. I also came across a baby humpback whale, which was unfortunately deceased and wrapped up in fishing gear, and found a gannet with barbed hooks stuck in its feet. I became aware of our impacts on these beautiful animals, feeling more connected to nature around the coast than ever before.

6. Orca are really flipping big

Like, huge. Three times the length of a paddleboard. I know this because, for one very fleeting moment, a pod of them swam very speedily over to me, two males with fins taller than me circling my board while a female swam underneath me, turning on her side as she did so to look me in the eye. It was an incredible moment, absolutely life-changing and terrifying. I know that orca aren’t a threat to humans in the wild, but that didn’t stop me from experiencing a pretty intense reaction to being so close to something huge and so in control! To witness this ridiculous reaction, please check out episode two!

7. Filming an expedition is very different to doing one for fun

With just James and I on the water, we felt a lot of responsibility to capture all the important moments as best we could. This meant that from start to finish it was non-stop. We had to paddle day and night and work out logistics for that. We also had to arrange interviews, charge kit, film EVERYTHING, get scenic shots and cutaways, carefully consider sound recording, and ensure I was doing video diaries… it was full on.

Also, James was carrying all his camera kit on his kayak and felt constantly nervous about capsizing or getting salt water into the equipment. He did an incredible job, losing only one camera and lens to the water, and never once crash-landing his drone, despite launching and landing it from a kayak out to sea. What a legend. I, however, didn’t do so well. I fell off once during the trip – it wasn’t long after meeting the orca, and I was still on edge. I saw huge fins a matter of metres away from my board in the early morning low light.

They were darting around, hunting. My heart rate instantly soared, and I was convinced they were orca. I span around repeatedly, trying to see where they were, and fell in whilst wearing a radio mic. James was not impressed. Especially when we realised, they weren’t even Orca; they were Risso’s dolphins (still very cool animals!)

8. It rains midges in Scotland

Midges are the worst. On numerous occasions, they sucked all the joy out of a situation. There’s only so much that Smidge and a head net can do before one’s sense of humour inevitably fails.. I spent nights in my tent thinking it was raining outside, then realised it was midges trying to get in to suck our blood.

There’s one scene we filmed where we had the great privilege of going to a Sea Eagle nest to tag a chick ­– on film, it looks as though we’re amidst torrential rain – it’s not; it’s swarms of midges. We filmed a section removing boat-fulls of rubbish from a remote island – we all had to spend the entire day in head nets for fear of getting eaten alive.

We constantly battled with wanting low winds for ease of paddling and strong winds to blow away the bitey little blighters. Once on the water, they disappeared ­ – good enough reason to keep paddling!

9. Everyone has a different way of connecting to the ocean

One of my favourite parts of this project was connecting with people around the coast. We met fishers, conservationists, surf therapists, kayakers, artists, scientists, children, and adults; everyone had a unique connection to the sea, and it was a great privilege to discuss it with them for our films. They felt something about the ocean’s future and wanted to protect it. But even those who live miles from the sea still have a fundamental connection to it.

The ocean produces the oxygen in every second breath we breathe – it sustains all of our lives on this planet, and our actions reciprocally affect its ability to thrive. Our health and the health of our ocean are inextricably linked. So we all have a right, and a responsibility, to stand up for its protection.

10. To know something is to love it

One of the most powerful moments of the whole project is shown in the final section of the last film. We take inner-city school children snorkelling for the first time in the protected waters off the Isle of Arran. I was nervous about it, hoping they would enjoy themselves and not just get freezing cold and hate the sea! But their reactions to what they saw were even more profound than I had anticipated.

With the charity I founded, Seaful, we continue to enable children who might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience the ocean and waterways through SUP, snorkelling, surfing, and rock pooling… and every time we take a group out, I feel reinvigorated by just how powerful finding a connection to the sea can be, how getting to know something can translate to loving it and caring about it.

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy watching the series we made about the expedition! Scotland Ocean Nation will be available to stream for free on STV Player from 1 April.