MARA (Scottish Gaelic for 'of the sea') was created to advance our understanding of marine mammals in the Western Isles and wider Scottish waters, and to advance environmental protections and improvements.

Harbour porpoise, Risso’s, white-beaked, bottlenose and common dolphins all raise their calves here. Juvenile and adult minke whales are seasonal visitors, as are more recently, fin and humpback whales, who are thought to be recovering from the impacts of historical whaling. Both grey and harbour seals, as well as otters, can be found in varying numbers around the coast.

The waters off the west coast of Scotland have been identified as being of critical importance to cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises). In 2020, the Scottish Government designated the North-east Lewis MPA (Marine Protected Area), covering habitat from the Butt of Lewis in the north, to Lochs in the south, with both Risso's dolphins and sandeels as 'protected features'. The MPA overlaps with the Inner Hebrides and Minches Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Designated in 2018, the SAC is the largest marine protected area for harbour porpoise in Europe, encompassing marine habitat between the Outer Hebrides and the west coast of the Scottish mainland.

Further to this, in 2024, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force recognised the waters between the Outer Hebrides and the mainland coast of west Scotland as amongst the richest in terms of marine mammal diversity of any in the British Isles, and designated the 'Minches and Sea of the Hebrides' and the 'Monach Isles and western Continental Shelf' as Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs). 

However, still relatively little is known about how marine mammals use the region, or how many there are. Importantly, even less is known about the health of the various populations. Add to this the uncertainty of the impact of the various threats they face, for example bycatch, noise pollution and disturbance. Never has it been more crucial to understand and protect our oceans and the wildlife within.