Moray Firth Report

July has flown by - but what a fantastic month for sightings!

The weather has been very kind (they say it was the driest July since 1919), with some amazing hot days and flat calm seas in the first 3 weeks of the month, it was a real joy to be out and about in the Moray Firth and beyond.

Bottlenose dolphins were seen in and around Findochty almost every day of the month. At the beginning of the month groups of up to 40+ dolphins were seen, most frequent were groups of 12+ and occasionally a small group of 4+, passing the village at least 6 times a day sometimes even more.

The mackerel had come into the Firth so food was plentiful. There were days when the dolphins seemed to be at the back of the Hostel, feeding off Longhead and Tronach head. Over to the East, watch sites at Portknockie and Port Soy also were recording good sightings. Westward over at Spey Bay and Hopeman the same animals were being encountered, which proves that the dolphins were travelling a fair distance along the coast in search of food - some 70 miles and more.

It was great to see so many groups of dolphins this month, especially as over the past few years we have been told the population is going down, but July has shown that we have a bigger population than say of 5 years ago. Despite sightings of large groups of dolphins at Aberdeen and towards Fife, the dolphins have also appeared here in good numbers, despite a blip in the weather in the last week of July. However the same is not true for the harbour porpoise, sadly sightings of these have been lower than past years but that could perhaps be in part due to the increase in the numbers of dolphins. For example, during the Findochty Gala Day where the Marine Connection had an educational stand, I was called over to an area behind the harbour wall where a dead porpoise had been washed ashore. From the markings on the body it was it appeared to have been killed by a dolphin. However there was better news from sightings off Banff and Lossiemouth, also in the Moray Firth off Chanory Point where porpoise were seen in greater numbers.

We have been delighted with whale sightings; a profusion of minke whales appeared 6 miles offshore and also close inshore at Port Soy - this year appears to have been the best for sightings of minke whales since we first started recording data, with a group of some 15+ recorded on one survey. On an evening watch in Port Soy a group of 4 minke whales was seen lunge feeding. Sadly this drew the attention of the occupants of a speed boat which resulted in one whale being struck by the boat. Even although the story was reported in the local press the next day, as yet no one has been caught in relation to the offence.

The top sighting of the month though must be the group of 6 risso's dolphins off Portknockie - an amazing encounter heading into Cullen Bay and then travelling North. As this species has not been sighted in this area before it was a fantastic experience, add to that the sighting of two orca seen in Cullen Bay and it is a cetacean watchers dream!

Sightings were as usual fantastic around Aberdeen; this is still a great viewing area for bottlenose dolphins but also we have seen white-beaked dolphins, propose and minke whales this month. On day during the last week of the month, off Montrose, we spotted a group of 100+ bottlenose dolphins - food sources must be fantastic at the moment when it attracts so many animals into the area.

As for my work this month, I have really enjoyed taking out many adopters (there seems to be a real Swanee fan club), but not forgetting Black & Decker and Sailfin of course - all had a great time. The Marine Connection has also been in attendance with our workshops and information stand at various galas in the area; Hopeman and Burghead were amazing - but windy. Travelling further a field, I also completed a survey trip which took me up as far as Orkney; I saw 27 minkes, 1 humpback, 2 basking sharks, many porpoise, and some dolphins - a grand day at the office indeed! I did receive news from other skippers who had sighted a fin whale and also a beluga - I am going to attempt to take another trip to check this out and will report back on my findings.

During the last week of July I went over to Arisaig on the west coast in search of minke whales and help track their movements. Sadly no minkes were to be found, but I did have a brilliant encounter with common dolphins and harbour porpoise. For 3 days we also surveyed around Rum and Eigg and other small isles - I loved it all and left with a heavy heart.

Ah well, that's it for this month - it has been fantastic for sightings and I look forward to meeting everyone who have a visit planned in the next month.

Until next time.

Peter Macdonald