I have spent my summer volunteering for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society up in Scotland. The bottlenose dolphins of the Moray Firth are the largest in the world. These beasts reach up to 4m in size which is twice the size of your average bottlenose dolphin and there is a population of just under two hundred living in the Moray Firth all year round. Scotland is one of the best places in Europe for land based watching as over 20 different species of whale, dolphin and porpoise (collectively known as cetaceans) regularly visit close to shore. These photos were taken from Chanonry Point, which is an amazing place to see dolphins from the land (they get super close to the shore, sometimes less than 5m!!).
Photos taken with a Canon 7D and 70-300mm lens
Long finned Pilot whale mass stranding- 2nd September 2012, near the Forth of Fife
Out of twenty six pilot whales which stranded on the coast near St Andrews, thirteen were already dead when British Divers Marine Life Rescue arrived at the scene in the morning. At hide tide around half fourths that afternoon ten were refloated and sent back to sea and the group rejoined a further twenty four individuals which were hanging around close to shore. Total death count equalled sixteen individuals. One of the refloated ten unfortunately restranded the following day.
For the full story see:
http://www.bdmlr.org.uk or http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-19461840
Long finned pilot whales can get up to six metres long and are one of the largest oceanic dolphin species. They are a species which commonly mass strand as a result of their strong social structure. If one of the individuals is ill for example and heads for shore the rest of the group will follow. However, the reason behind this stranding is still to be confirmed.
Photos taken with a Canon 7D and 70-300mm lens.
