Scottish dolphins ahoy!

Can there be a better place than Chanonry Point in north Scotland (just above Inverness) for viewing bottlenose dolphins?

When I arrived there this afternoon a small crowd of photographers were already in place (many with bazooka-sized professional lenses) on the gravel spit that sticks out into the Moray Firth.

Channory Point

Soon everyone was pointing excitedly and lenses moved in unison to point in parallel as the school - in several separate groups - swept in from the seaward size. They milled for a while off the point and then moved on.

Now I am no Charlie Phillips (his blog here) but even I could not fail to get some pictures.

The sighting clearly made the day for many holidaymakers and the gang of photographers reinforced themselves with some hot tea and settled back to await the dolphins' return.

Distinctive sickle-shaped dorsal fin

Here - a distant dolphin sees off a gannet - or is it the other way around?