A Chill Out Kind of Day

Sleepy in the Sunshine
With the second day in a row of actual summer weather, it was a great day to be out on the water! Not only is the glittery reflection from the water great for topping up a tan, but the soothing sea breeze meant it wasn’t too warm out on the firth either; with highs of 25 degrees Celsius today, it was certainly welcome for a change! The good weather seemed to have the same effect on everyone, making them chilled out and in a good mood throughout the day, even our local wildlife! The seals were out and present on all 4 sailings for Dolphin Spirit today, with those on the mudflats snoozing away rather peacefully for the best part of the afternoon. Those on the water were making the most of a lack of dolphins; the terrible trio didn’t turn up until the later stages of the day! But as they say, when the cats are away, the mice shall play…

And Play They Did!
It wasn’t just the seals who saw their opportunity and took it; the otters came by for a visit too! In the early afternoon, two of them were spotted just off the harbour wall mucking around. It’s been our first sightings of the otters at the marina for a while, with resident male “Pierre” spotted recently back on his perch over on the South Kessock slipway again too over the past couple of days. We’re still keeping our eyes and ears open for any signs of otter cubs, but no definite signals yet. The Kessock Channel went to the dolphins shortly after two, with a lovely visit from Kesslet and Charlie right up next to the boat. Charlie always brings that playful side out of his mum, and can often be seen actively pushing her to the boat. That being said, it seems to be rubbing off on old Scoopy too, who didn’t turn up until later this afternoon, but he too has been getting close to both Mischief and Dolphin Spirit too! The three of them spent their afternoon around the river and Kessock Channel, and are still being reported there even at the time of writing; enjoying an evening salmon feast in the lovely weather it would seem!