Moray Firth Report

It is 7.30pm and the light has all but gone. Autumn is now here and September has been like the last few months, packed with amazement and light, full of incident and fun, like life should be.

September started off well, we had some fantastic encounters with bottlenose dolphins. In the first three weeks sightings were still coming in from various watch sites also sightings from the Rainbow hostel were still good. Some mornings it felt like the dolphins were there waiting for you to get up, other days you had to wait for a few hours.

One morning while I was standing in the bathroom brushing my teeth, I saw 6 dolphins off Longhead. They were so close to the shore that you would have thought that they were scratching their sides on the rocks (which they do pretty frequently you know). They then moved off, heading east along and above the Chimney pots of the Creagan, it looked as if they were darting in and around the pots as the sky and the sea were literally the same colour; the water was flat calm and you could see it bubbling up as they passed by. One hour later they came back, now a much bigger group 20+ but still close inshore, a member of the public was at the end of Longhead - what a view he must have had. Who needs a boat if the dolphins come in this close to shore each time they pass!

Atlantic White-sided dolphins were back again in Cullen bay; the third sighting in two months of these fantastic animals. You could see the flash of yellow behind the dorsal fin as they sped in and out of the bay. Another rare and amazing sighting in September was an encounter with a Basking shark near Sandend, about a half mile out to sea. The shark just drifted along with the current feeding on plankton. Cautious never to get the boat too close to the 20ft shark to avoid disturbing its routine and natural behaviour, we watched as it weaved its way along the coast. Mid-month we had to encounters with a Sun Fish and what strange fish they are. They look just like floating dustbin lids but as soon as you get close they upend and swim away.

Harbour porpoise and minke whales were still being seen over to the east near Banff, but sadly were scarce in Cullen bay, better luck next year methinks. The grey seals on Craigenroan are still hauling out and getting ready to pup. Come next month, I am sure we will be receiving calls coming in regarding a seal stranded on the shore. Little do folk realise that the wee seal is safe and sound and simply waiting for its mum to come in and feed it! Six weeks later, this seemingly defenceless seal pup will be on its own, in the water and fending for itself.

Looking back, September has been a grand month for the wildlife - they have had an abundance of food and no hassle from us humans. The squid boats which have proven such a problem in the past, did come back for a 10-day period but were not so close inshore as before, which is great news for the mammals as they have totally depleted the young squid over the past year or so. The birds are now all off the cliffs. On 17 September I had a great encounter with 10+ dolphins and 20+ gannets, I just sat in the boat and watched a real feeding frenzy going on close by - amazing stuff indeed.

On my last trip of the month we came across a large group of dolphins, 30+ hunting and feeding off the village, once again another amazing sight, the dolphins were throwing fish all over the place and it was funny to see the 4 calves that were in the group all taking their turn to get in on the act!

Now that the schools and youth groups are all back from summer break, during September we have visited quite a few. Hello to Cullen Primary school, hope you are over the 'Pass the Great White Shark' game! It was a puppet that proved a lot of fun, but also gave us a great opportunity to discuss all the important issues on all aspects of protecting whales, dolphins, porpoises and their natural environment.

Thanks also to the local baker; Home Bakery of Buckie and the MVSO in Elgin for allowing us to erect a window display promoting our ongoing work. Lastly, thanks to all the adopters who, over the year, have supported the Marine Connection; have come north, been on the boat, stood on the cliff dolphin watching or stayed at the Rainbow hostel. I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Remember the dolphins are here all year round, as are we!

Until next time ……

Peter MacDonald