The Rise of the Falling Tide

The Gruesome Twosome Strike Back!
A rather strange day all in all aboard Dolphin Spirit, but one which saw the return of Kesslet and Charlie to the Kessock Channel twice! We first spotted them in the early morning, just as we came down the Beauly Firth heading towards the Kessock Bridge. They seemed to be waiting for a boat to come out of the marina, before they sneaked into the river for a little bit of low-tide hunting. We lost sight of them after that, not finding them on our way back, so kept our fingers crossed they’d stick around. Thankfully for us, they did a little more than that, and we caught them again at 12pm. The rain was hammering down on the firth, which made sightings difficult, but when dolphins are flying they’re a little hard to miss! A lovely breach from Charlie started off the sightings for that trip, out near the cardinal marker off Carnarc Point. The pair came for a short sniff around the boat, clearly hunting something, before vanishing. We kept looking for them on our way back down to the bridge again, and found them milling around the left main leg. We kept on moving, watching them start to hunt again just under the bridge itself; what they were after must have been worth it, because they were certainly going hammer and tongs! We saw them again on their way out as we came back in, near Alturlie Point. Kesslet already had a fish hanging out of her mouth, but Charlie was very much still on the prowl. He hunted a good distance from us for a lovely big salmon, breaching after it and tossing it in the air in a few spectacular displays. Sadly, after that, they were gone. Wonder where they went?

Stingy Things
We’ve been keeping tabs on the jellyfish population again, seeing a great increase in the numbers of Lions Mane and Moon jellies recently. They’ve added a splash of colour to the murky Moray Firth, as well as some interest for the kids when it’s a little quiet on the mammal side. They weren’t the only stinging thing on the firth today though, as we had to come to the aid of a poorly little bee who landed on our boat! The bee was cared for by guide Krystyna, who protected the poor mite from the wind and rain up her sleeve for an entire trip! She and Sue went on to take the little buzzy buddy back into the marina, where they warmed him up a little and fed him sugar water to help him get his strength back (you can see a video of it over on our Facebook page!). Once he was ready to go, he was released into the potted plants next to the marina, and shortly disappeared when the rain was over. Who says it’s just the big wildlife we care about here at Dolphin Spirit?