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Moray Firth latest
I thought summer in the Moray Firth was meant to mean hot days, beach combing and watching dolphins play in Cullen Bay but sadly not this July – we had more rain and a northeast wind - summer eh?
 However on the brighter side, the sightings from land have been reasonable and along the inner Moray Firth bottlenose dolphins were seen feeding and jumping five metres into the air and even had time to give a quick tail slap before disappearing again under water. Chanonry Point is as always a good area to watch the dolphins but on any given day over the summer months there can be up to 200 people there to see the animals so I tend to head for less crowded viewing points, such as Fort George, to watch the dolphins from there. Sightings at Burghead (which never fails to impress as the views are some of the best along the Firth) and Lossiemouth have been fair although not as good as June, however both bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoise were sighted as well as whales and common dolphins. Minke whales were also seen off the Sutors.
On the July 15, incidentally a lovely sunny day, I wandered over to the Daisy Rock and saw 200+ gannets and at least 20 dolphins, all in a feeding frenzy 500 metres off shore. It was an amazing sight as the sea state was perfect and the sun shining bright. Over at Findochty the dolphins have also been around as the salmon, mackerel and herring have been in abundance - all a good source of food for the animals. Sadly I, like many other researchers around the UK, haven’t been out on the water as much this year due to the bad weather, however on one of my trips encountered a single bottlenose dolphin that I call Solo. I managed to get some excellent photographs which helps build up the ID database and also gives us more of an idea of the extensive range these animals cover, who they socialise and travel with etc. Harbour porpoise were also back in Cullen Bay in large numbers despite the usual arrival of the squid fisheries. 300 common dolphins were seen along the outer Moray Firth and the east coast also saw the return of the white-beaked dolphins.
My top sighting of the July had to be the killer whale! I was looking out to sea from my window when all of a sudden I saw a large black fin (yes, I really do live that close to the sea!), which upon closer inspection turned out to be a killer whale travelling northwest. Within seconds, the animal was clearly feeding, throwing fish into the air and I was in cetacean watch heaven!
 In late July we were concerned when a minke whale got itself slightly trapped Fraserburgh Harbour but thankfully after a few days it managed to get back out to sea and be on its merry way. Hundreds of people watched the animal from the pier and some even dived into the water although what they thought that would prove or achieve I will never know! However incidents like this undoubtedly raise awareness and I hope that some of the people who saw this animal will now take more interest in whales or dolphins. The Marine Connection has a week long display and talks in Fraserburgh shortly which will help raise awareness of all cetaceans in general and I will be only too happy to answer any questions on their recent local ‘visitor’.
July was a busy month as with the school holidays come various galas, fairs and the usual summer things, although sadly as with a lot of events this year, some were cancelled due to the bad weather … which is the topic I started off this report with, so having gone full circle all that is left is to wish everyone a happy month - until next time.
All things good,
Peter Macdonald
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