Wet, Wild, and Windy!

Spray Everywhere!
Between the wind and the waves, I think we ate more of the Moray Firth than we saw of it today! It wasn’t exactly the most comfortable of days out on the water, but one that we made the most of nonetheless. We started our day off the right way, with sightings of Kesslet and Scoopy right up by the harbour in the river this morning; Kesslet had the remains of breakfast just hanging out of her mouth. Upon spotting them, Charlie Phillips came by for another visit, this time setting himself up on the quayside to watch. Almost as if they knew he was coming, Kesslet and Scoopy toddled away into hiding, returning around 11.35 for a bit more hunting in that part of the river. Actively shooting after the salmon just above the surface, Kesslet and Scoopy hunted in tandem for a short while before making their way out again. They were just in time to greet the Dolphin Spirit as she left the marina, and they followed alongside for a while as the boat veered into the Beauly Firth, before turning tail and heading towards the Kessock Bridge. After that, the disappeared into the descending fog for the afternoon, leaving us a little high and dolphin-less for the 2pm; but that’s ok, the seals were there to pick up the slack last minute!

Adverse Weather
With the wind picking up, we tentatively went out on the 2pm and braved the waves. There wasn’t a fin to be found, but with our boat’s passengers 50% under the age of 15, they still had fun looking out and getting splashed by the waves streaming across the bow! At the last moment, the seals appeared too, taking advantage of the mudflats beginning to appear with the fall of the tide. They provided some aww-worthy moments, including the little female wriggling as fast as she could from the encroaching waves! The increasing wind through that trip made skipper Brian reluctant to do the 4pm trip, and with Dolphin Mischief already putting a stop to their 3.30pm, it only solidified his belief that the 4pm would not be comfortable or safe out on that water. So sadly, we only got through 3 of 4 for Dolphin Spirit and 2 out of 3 for Dolphin Mischief, but those that went out were certainly successful, so not a bad day all in all!