As part of the Department of Trade and Industry's (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA7, a seabird and cetacean survey was undertaken. The track passed through the Firth of Clyde, the North Channel and the adjacent continental shelf before covering the Rockall Trough as far as the eastern margin of the Rockall Bank and the southern margins of Anton Dohrn Seamount. For much of the survey the weather was unseasonably poor and data was frequently collected in marginal conditions. At total of 7578 birds of 37 species were recorded. Of these 26 species were seabirds and the remainder were migrant passerines, hirundines and geese. Fulmars were the most abundant birds seen during the survey, followed by gannets and great shearwaters, which were recorded in unusually high numbers. The latter species may have been more abundant because of atypically strong westerly winds. Five species of cetacean were seen, with short-beaked common dolphins being the most abundant, followed by long-finned pilot whales and sperm whales. Other sightings included one blue shark and one sunfish. Seabird and cetacean densities were low in much of the study area but were elevated on the continental shelf, especially near the Stanton Bank, at the southern margins of the Anton Dohrn seamount and along the eastern margin of the Rockall Bank.