Spirtle one of the female bottlenose dolphins usually seen around the Moray Firth, Scotland recently returned to her home waters after spending the summer months, accompanied by not only her mother but other members of the Moray Firth dolphin population, in the waters off Kerry on Ireland’s south-west coast.
These sightings in Ireland were the first recorded involving members of Scotland’s east coast bottlenose dolphin population outside the UK.
The young dolphin is distinctive by her heavy scarring and discolouration caused by severe sunburn after live stranding on mudflats in the Cromarty Firth, Moray in 2016. Although she wasn’t discovered for many hours fortunately her injuries have gradually healed and she now appears to be thriving.
Will she venture back to Ireland in 2020 – who knows. For now, it’s good to see this plucky young dolphin back in her home territory.
