Whales’ Tales
The North Sea off the coast of Aberdeen may seem a forbidding place but marine life thrives in the chilly waters – great news for whale watchers
ABERDEEN MAY NOT BE THE MOST OBVIOUS BASE FOR WHALE WATCHING, BUT THE WATERS OFF THE GRANITE CITY HAVE AN ABUNDANCE OF DRAMATIC MARINE LIFE, WRITES WILDLIFE AUTHOR RICHARD ROWE
WHALE watching is usually associated with far-flung locations such as British Columbia and New Zealand, but visitors to Aberdeen, on Scotland’s north-east coast, might be surprised.
For obvious reasons, Aberdeen’s fortunes have long been tied to the sea. Fishing and shipbuilding once dominated, but both have been superseded by the oil and gas industry, which is now as intrinsically linked with the city as its distinctive granite architecture.
Although modern-day Aberdeen has developed on the back of heavy industry, the area has not lost any of the natural attractions that continue to draw walkers, wildlife enthusiasts and lovers of wide, open spaces. Lying in the shadow of the Grampians on an under-visited stretch of coast, the city offers easy access to empty beaches and towering sea cliffs that support a huge assortment of wildlife, which includes seals and nesting birds.
Offshore, the chilly waters of the North Sea provide a feeding ground for a variety of whales, dolphins and porpoises (collectively known as cetaceans), which are easy to spot in the summer months.
The incredible biodiversity means that these waters are well-studied. Researchers from the University of Aberdeen, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) and the University of St Andrews’ Sea Mammal Research Unit are all occupied in monitoring the health, behaviour and distribution of the area’s marine life. And there is so much to study. The most frequently seen cetacean year-round is the shy harbour (or common) porpoise, which sometimes ventures into Aberdeen harbour itself. Elsewhere, minke whales are regular summer visitors, although they tend to be further out to sea. Minkes are one of the smallest of the world’s baleen (toothless) whales, but still weigh in at almost 10 tonnes and reach lengths of up to 9.5 metres. These impressive animals move closer inshore around May and can linger as long as October if food supplies are plentiful. The nickname, ‘herring hog’, refers not just to the minke’s hearty appetite, but also one of its main prey in Scottish waters. Minkes feed by engulfing huge volumes of seawater and sieving out herring, sand-eels and crustaceans. Although they are usually solitary, the animals are sometimes seen gorging themselves in pairs around particularly rich feeding grounds.
Occasionally, pods of orcas (or killer whales) also swim along the east coast, although they are much more frequently seen off Shetland and the Hebridean islands. Orcas are one of the top predators in the ocean and a seal’s worst nightmare. They are easily identified thanks to their black and white markings, and have huge dorsalfins that reach high above the water.
But bottlenose dolphins are the cetaceans you are most likley to see. They roam the inner Moray Firth at Inverness down to St Andrews. One of just two such resident groups in the UK – the other being at Cardigan Bay in Wales – this isolated school contains around 130 individuals that form two interconnected social groups. One larger school stays within the innerfirth year round, while a smaller and increasingly nomadic group ranges along the east coast past Aberdeen.
The dolphins hunt individually or work together to catchfish, often within throwing distance of land. Visit on a calm day,find a good vantage point and look out for tell tale signs of cetacean activity: the presence of feeding whales, for example, is often given away by gatherings of agitated seabirds on and around the surface of the water.
Even busy areas such as Stonehaven harbour, just south of Aberdeen, can provide wonderful views of dolphins leaping and playing with their catch. And at Spey Bay on the outer Moray Firth, dolphins often lie in wait for salmon entering the River Spey as they return to spawning grounds.
For a better look, see Close encounters above, or you can take to the water yourself. There are several wildlife cruise boats that operate from ports along the north Aberdeenshire and Moray coasts. When booking, look for boats that are signed up to the Dolphin Space Programme (DSP), a long-running initiative to ensure operators adopt a strict code of conduct that minimises disturbance to dolphins and other marine life.
The programme also actively encourages environmental education and participation in ongoing research projects. “When managed sensitively, marine tourism can be a very positive industry. But we have seen from elsewhere in the world how unregulated marine wildlife watching can have a negative long-term impact on species,” explains DSP officer, Deborah Benham. “We need to take extra care when it comes to bottlenose dolphins in north-east Scotland, which are vulnerable.”
Owner and operator of DSP-accredited Gemini Explorer, Peter Hizzett, combines wildlife watching with scientific research and works closely with conservation groups. As a result, most trips have expert researchers on board who are only too happy to share their knowledge with the public.
Hizzett also operates the largest vessel in the area and says the slow beat of the hefty engines seems to attract marine life. “Whales and dolphins tend to steer clear of high speed motors, but a deeper sound acts like a magnet. You can see from the eye contact that dolphins, in particular, are as interested in us as we are in them.” While such behaviour provides stunning views for tourists, it also helps researchers eager to recordfin marks and body scars that are unique to each individual animal.
Besides commercial cruises along the coast, Hizzett organises adventurous overnight expeditions for more intrepid whale watchers. The trip, which needs calm weather to operate, heads to the Beatrice oil platform, about 45km offshore, before making an early morning visit to the Southern Trench – an area of deep water off Fraserburgh and a favourite feeding ground for minkes.
“Often we just sit there at 3am, with the engines off listening to the breathing all around us,” explains Hizzett. “Early morning is a peak period of feeding and there is plenty of activity – not just whales, but porpoises and dolphins, too.”
The beauty of trips is that not even veteran skippers can predict what will turn up. “Last season, we saw white-sided and Risso’s dolphins, two species that are very rare for the Moray Firth,” reports Hizzett.
Recent summers have also seen an increase in the number of basking sharks feeding in sheltered inshore waters. The world’s second largestfish after the whale shark, basking sharks reach lengths of up to 12 metres, but humans have little to fear. These gentle plankton feeders swim open-mouthed near the surface of the water with tail and dorsalfins clearly visible above the water.
The sharks add to a spectacular cast of marine life that can make a trip to north-east Scotland as memorable as many more exotic destinations.
Close encounters
North-east Scotland is blessed with many outstanding wildlife sites. Here arefive to get you started:
>> Fowlsheugh RSPB reserve, near Stonehaven (32km south of Aberdeen) – a hidden cliff-top site with 130,000 breeding seabirds. RSPB volunteers run boat trips to the base of the cliffs from Stonehaven (May to July)
>> Forvie National Nature Reserve, near Newburgh (21km north of Aberdeen) – a pristine dune system that shelters thousands of breeding eider ducks and terns
>> Glen Tanar, near Aboyne (48km west of Aberdeen) – walk the trails and see how Caledonian forest regeneration has benefited capercaillie, black grouse and red squirrel
>> Troup Head, Morayshire – Scotland’s only mainland gannet colony and a good vantage point for cetacean watching
>> WDCS wildlife centre, Spey Bay, Morayshire – a family-friendly introduction to the marine life of the Moray Firth. Ask about land-based dolphin-watching locations, including Chanonry Point on the Black Isle where dolphins come so close to feed, they’re within splashing distance
Useful contacts
For further details on wildlife watching around Aberdeen and elsewhere in Scotland, visit:
>> Gemini Explorer, Buckie, Morayshire (+44 (0)7747 626280; www.geminiexplorer.co.uk)
>> Sailingwild, Lossiemouth, Morayshire (+44 (0)1343 829244; www.sailingwild.com)
>> Puffin Cruises, Macduff, Morayshire (+44 (0)1542 832560; www.puf.fb01] ncruises.com)
>> Wild Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife & Nature Tourism Operators Association (www.wild-scotland.co.uk)
>> VisitScotland (www.visitscotland.com/wildlife)
>> Wildlife Traveller Scotland Mainland and Wildlife Traveller Scotland Islands are two new guides written by Richard Rowe that cover 80 of Scotland’s finest wildlife destinations. Published by Pocket Mountains and available in all good book shops, priced £6.99
