Civilian Aviation

Thanks to Mike for telling me about this spot which saved me from 2 hours on a boat during which time I would probably have ended up sea-sick. I'd heard about the dolphins here but didn't realise you could get so close from the shore - at times they were only about 20 metres away. We were only there for a minute or so before we saw one and then more and more appeared. I thought there were about a dozen but when I looked at my pics I realised that in many of the pics what I thought was one dolphin was 2 or 3 so I reckon there were between 20 and 30. I even snapped a few with fish in their mouths (salmon I think because they wait there for them to run in on the tide) and also one lucky escapee which leapt out but probably got caught soon afterwards.
It's well worth a visit if you are ever that way - go to Fortrose on the Black Isle and then head to Chanonry point (across the golf course) when the tide is running in - I was there about 3 hours before high tide. some pics:

dolphin at chanonry point, moray firth 11-07-2017 4360 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

dolphin at chanonry point, moray firth 11-07-2017 4558 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

this one has got a fish in it's mouth
dolphin with salmon at chanonry point, moray firth 11-07-2017 4456 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

the one that got away:
dolphin with salmon at chanonry point, moray firth 11-07-2017 4584 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

dolphins at chanonry point, moray firth 11-07-2017 4343 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

dolphins at chanonry point, moray firth 11-07-2017 4358 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

looks like this one had caught a fish as well
dolphins at chanonry point, moray firth 11-07-2017 4443 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

tails you win - diving after the fish
dolphin at chanonry point, moray firth 11-07-2017 4477 by Andrew Goldsmith, on Flickr

hope they are of interest, there are a few more in my flickr album

C&C welcome

Andy

Blimey - they're good Andy, are you sure the one in the 3rd photo has a fish in it's mouth? I can't figure out what it is !

Those critters have almost wiped-out the porpoise population in the Moray Firth, they head-butt them and throw them into the air until they're too weak to swim away - I've seen loads of photos of them doing it, but not for a few years as there's hardly any left (if any).

If the dolphins don't catch the salmon then the seals that live around the mouth of the River Ness will get them, if any are lucky enough to get past both then the anglers upstream will mop them up. It's a tough life being a salmon !

Mike wrote:Blimey - they're good Andy, are you sure the one in the 3rd photo has a fish in it's mouth? I can't figure out what it is !

If the dolphins don't catch the salmon then the seals that live around the mouth of the River Ness will get them, if any are lucky enough to get past both then the anglers upstream will mop them up. It's a tough life being a salmon !

I got several like that, I'm pretty sure it's a fish tail - they must swallow them head first, a rather uncomfortable end for the salmon!
'It's gone awfully dark all of a sudd.... CRUNCH!'

Yes it is tough being a salmon, if they get past the anglers and the fishermen with nets - don't worry about otters, the salmon swim faster, then all they do is knacker themselves trying to jump up waterfalls, spend a day or two pro-creating with what little energy they have left and then die. Makes being a christian in the Roman empire a piece of cake really (apart from the odd lion or two).

do they throw the porpoises in the air on porpoise?