Moray Firth Latest

Happy New Year to you all - or should that be Yew Year considering I have a tree in my kitchen! Not a real one however, it is something fun that I use to keep note of the changing weather patterns from year to year, as I colour code the leaves to indicate the weather each day it is easy to compare that day/date to the relevant one last year.

So despite the weather today being cold and snowy I can see that in general January has been in general fairly mild and quite sunny. By all accounts it is the mildest for over 90 years and with temperatures averaging 7.4º let's hope this means we will be in for a nice warm summer - bringing with it ideal opportunities for many sightings of dolphins and other marine life.

However, with the looming problem of global warming I guess it could be the reason the weather is so mild for the time of year. People in the Moray Firth can still recall when winter meant just that - snow and ice (but it is great fun to be out in the park sledging). I feel we all have the obligation to do what we can to help save this planet from whatever fate awaits us; Just lowering your heating a fraction or switching off the remote/standby option on electrical devices all helps, but there can be no doubt that our sea states are changing.

January is a funny month for dolphin watching in the firth. With all the festivities over you begin to eventually notice the daylight creeping back, so much so that by the end of the month it is still light at 5pm - a welcome relief from the long days of winter which shorten our survey time. That said, sadly in January the sea has not been kind - with 'white horses' dancing all along the shores spotting has been very difficult, however I did see one solitary dolphin just offshore on the 24th - a welcome addition to my early 2007 sightings log.

In the inner Firth there have been recorded sightings of harbour porpoise with good sightings of bottlenose dolphins off the east coast at Aberdeen. There have sadly been a few strandings over on the west coast; one of a Sowerby's beaked whale with a crushed skull, probably due to collision with a ship. But we did have some very good news when Orca appeared in the Firth of Forth - this had us all buzzing with excitement but was bad news for the seals on the island of May, however for hungry young Orca I am sure one or two provided a very welcome meal ! While the media were all focusing on the appearance of the orca, a single beluga whale was sighted off Lybster, just a little north of the Firth near to Wick; a fascinating few days and the opportunity to see some amazing cetaceans.

Well that's about it for this month - the days are getting longer which means it will soon be time to welcome Marine Connection visitors once more. I very much look forward to seeing you all - some new visitors and some return year after year to experience the magic of the dolphins in the Firth. In the meantime the sun is now out, giving me an ideal opportunity to get out on another survey and perhaps even see what the tide has brought in on the beach.

All the best to you all - until next time.

Peter Macdonald