Cottage Diary - Aspenwood self catering luxury Holiday Cottage overlooking Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland.

Monday, March 01, 2010

Moray Firth Dolphins.


The guests who came to visit us last week during the blizzard also braved the elements during their holiday and went to Chanonry Point on the Black Isle where they were lucky enough to see about 15 bottlenose dolphins.
It is one of the best dolphin spotting sites in Europe with a large resident population of bottlenose dolphins.
Chanonry Point is a spit of sand that juts out into a narrow but deep channel of the Moray Firth opposite Fort George. Here different currents converge bringing fish close to the surface and thus the dolphins close to the shore. Prime dolphin spotting time is the hour or so before high tide as the dolphins come in on the tide in their hunt for food.

Bottlenose dolphins are very adept at leaping clear of the water often in unison with other dolphins in their group and can sometimes put on a spectacular display. Although we have been to Chanonry Point several times we have not always been lucky enough to see them as they cannot be guaranteed to show. Even so - there are picnic tables to sit at and enjoy lunch while watching and hoping for them to appear.

Angie, Michael and Nikki kindly sent me these photos to use.....so thanks very much.

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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Dolphin watch at Chanonry Point.

Beautiful weather all this week with a frost on the ground in the morning followed by a clear blue sky throughout the whole day. Decided to have an awayday so drove to Chanonry Point on the Black Isle in the hope of spotting the Moray Firth Dolphins. On the way we took a turn left down to Kessock, for a stroll and admired the snowy mountain views in the distance. Continued on our way towards Fortrose on the Black Isle and parked at the Point. Hadn't been there long before we saw the black dorsal fins of two dolphins slicing through the water quite near the shore. We were hoping some more would come in on the high tide, but, possibly because of the bright day, no more appeared. Several seals popped their heads above water for a short while before diving back to catch their lunch. We used one of the picnic tables, took our coats off as it was quite warm and enjoyed our lunch. Got talking to a couple on the next table who were staying in Fortrose for a holiday and they had seen otters catching fish and playing in the seaweedy shallows. On the way back home we drove towards a beautiful sunset. A great day out and a good excuse to return to see the dolphins again.

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