Marine Connection warmly welcomes the news that the number of bottlenose dolphins in the Moray Firth special area of conservation (SAC) off the coast of Scotland remains ‘stable’. The report by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) shows around 200 dolphins call the coastal North Sea home, with more than half frequently using the Moray Firth. The research, commissioned by SNH and carried out by the University of Aberdeen, also indicates that dolphins use the SAC outside the summer months more often than was previously thought.
The Moray Firth dolphins are the most northern resident bottlenose population in the world and recognised as a major tourist attraction along Scotland’s northeast coast, generating upwards of £4m per year for the local economy. Marine Connection’s Margaux Dodds comments “The news that the wild dolphin population in the area remains stable is good, reflecting their quality of life and food source. For this reason, Marine Connection continues to speak out against plans by the Cromarty Firth Port Authority to allow ship-to-ship oil transfers at sea in the area. Ignoring the potential for an oil spill, even day to day operations of this sort at sea off the coast of the Sutors has potential to be a disaster for the environment, and the wildlife which frequent the area, and could potentially harm the local economy which benefits from the number of tourists attracted to the Firths each year to see dolphins in their natural habitat.”
The Moray Firth SAC was designated in 2005 under the European Habitats Directive for bottlenose dolphins and extends from the inner firths to Helmsdale on the north coast and Lossiemouth on the south coast.
