Moray Firth Report

It's the half way point in 2005 - this year is going so fast (or perhaps that is just an age thing!)

June has been an amazing month for sightings with cetaceans seen on 26 out of the 30 days. Bottlenose dolphins have been visible all along the Moray Firth from Inverness to Fraserburgh - many in large groups with numbers of 40+ being recorded. Off Findochty a group of 12+ have been seen regularly. One animal in particular is easy to spot as it has a very defined white tick mark on the right hand side of the dorsal fin; also in this group we have 2 calves and a few sub adults. The bigger dolphins are starting to be seen, this is mainly due to the arrival of large shoals of trout, with other species like herring and mackerel eagerly awaited.

Over on the east coast the dolphins are still being seen in large numbers. Montrose Bay has recorded 40+ travelling along the coast, and as ever Aberdeen is still a hot spot for these animals. White-beaked dolphins have also arrived for their summer stay off our coast. Harbour porpoise numbers are good but could be better, perhaps with so many dolphins around they are keeping a low profile in this area. So far this year 3 porpoise have been found stranded and possibly killed by bottlenose dolphins; why they attack the porpoise is a mystery but being wild and free animals all we can do is wonder at why they act in this way.

June has also been a good month for minke whales with 15+ recorded just off Banff further out plus others being recorded in the Inner Moray Firth. On June 17th, 15-20 orcas were seen heading north at Lybster with a possible sighting of a further 2 orcas off Cullen Bay on 25th - this is exciting as these sightings make it 4 years in a row that orca have been recorded off our coastline. We have even had two sightings of basking shark about 4 miles out in the Firth!

With all the sightings and fine weather we are in rich spell of cetacean watching, sometimes too rich (f that is possible)! One particular instance that comes to mind is the weekend we had guests staying at the Rainbow Hostel who were watching a group of 8 dolphins pass by; three times east bound and three times west bound - all of this while they were still in bed ! After breakfast we decided to go out on the boat; unfortunately we saw nothing but had fantastic views of our coastline. We then came back to the hostel, sat down with a cup of tea and low and behold, the dolphins were back again - a sure sign that sometimes you can have as much success with on shore watches as being out in the boat!

Also this month I have visited some great schools, Gamrie was amazing as was Croy - the children became immersed in the play about a stranded dolphin. A lot of great artwork has come out of the schools this year which we hope to publish some time in the future. The Port Soy festival was mobbed - it was sunny both days and our information stand was popular (my throat was arid after that one).

The longest day of the year was celebrated out on board the boat - no sightings but an amazing red sunset and moon rise; along with a great night of music and song it was night to remember. We also went out to see the Queen Mary 2, anchored six miles off shore and had a great close up view. One thing that stood out was the colour of the water the most amazing blue I have ever seen here in the Firth.

And lastly for this report anyway, I would like to say a big hello to all the people who have stayed in the hostel, many thanks for your kind words in our visitors' book. For the unlucky few who did not get out on the boat due to weather - there will another time.

I am just back from Orkney, during my travels I was lucky enough to see humpback whales - but more about that next time.

Bye for now,

Peter Macdonald