Hi Everyone,

I'm really, really annoyed today...there I was having a not too shabby a day down at the Point, dolphins in the area (including Mischief), blue sky and blue sea, warm sun... and then this RIB type boat shows up - obviously looking for dolphins with people in it, cameras at the ready. The group of dolphins that were near the Point were then pursued by this boat and the people on board away towards Inverness.


© WDCS/Charlie Phillips

A local boat operator phoned me to let me know that he was watching the same boat harassing the dolphins heading down towards the Kessock Bridge so I had to call the local police and go through the reporting procedure, the boat operator being a witness too. This meant coming away from Chanonry and the dolphins and spend the rest of the day either giving statements to the police and trying to look out for this boat that disappeared. Grrrr ! And they want to build a 500 berth Marina near Chanonry Point? No Way...over my dead body! We have had a lot of incidents this year with people coming from the Inverness Marina targeting dolphins - what is it with some people?

Best Wishes (unless you are an irresponsible boat owner)

Charlie.

Hi Everyone,

I've been splitting my time between North Kessock and Chanonry recently, trying to keep up with Moonlight and her new baby - not easy with such a mobile animal as a dolphin. On Saturday at Chanonry there was a good bit of socialising going on with Sundance being the starter of much of the activity - as you can see in the photo below he certainly knows how to make a splash.


©WDCS/Charlie Phillips

I was round at Chanonry again this morning, meeting our heroic "Pod Plodders" who have raised loads of money for WDCS by walking 26 miles along the local coastline in just 2 days - amazing ! Well done to you all. Kesslet and Charlie were at Chanonry first thing, as was Mischief but they caught some small fish then drifted away - I later saw Kesslet and Charlie at North Kessock nearly in the harbour where Kesslet was trying to swallow an ENORMOUS salmon....greedy girl Kesslet!

Best Wishes,

Charlie.

Hi Everyone,

Today at North Kessock was fabulous for dolphins - I counted 21 different dorsal fins in my photos, including (in the distant photo below) Moonlight with her new baby at the top of the picture and Mischief to the right of them and Rainbow to the left.


©WDCS/Charlie Phillips

Sundance was also here along with Muddy and her new baby, so that was two Mum & newborn pairs and lovely old Jigsaw was here too - brilliant to see the old girl in the Kessock Channel again after many, many years. Everywhere you looked it was adult and calf dorsal fins....who needs Chanonry Point?

Best Wishes and have a great Bank Holiday weekend,

Charlie.

Hi Everyone,

Some exciting news for all you lovely Moonlight adopters out there - she has just had a new baby ! In the photo below taken earlier today at North Kessock you can see the wee beauty, maybe only a week old surfacing on the right hand side of Moonlight.


©WDCS/Charlie Phillips

I noticed Moonlight yesterday in at North Kessock which is reasonably unusual and as I was watching her this tiny calf was popping up beside her. I managed to get a few grey, distant photos (the weather was rubbish) and sent them to Barbara at the Lighthouse for a second opinion and she agreed. I was round at Chanonry this morning to see if Moonlight was there, no sign but Rainbow, Sundance and Mischief were - great to see them too and Mischief came into North Kessock later.

Can I go for a lie down now?

Best Wishes,

Charlie.

Hi Everyone,

I spent the day yesterday with some local youngsters and the BBC filming for a new CBBC series called "Live N Deadly" presented by Steve Backshall. The weather started off terrible with very high winds and really rough seas so initially the dolphin watching boat trip was cancelled but thankfully after an hour or two the wind started to drop and the boat trip was back on...phew! As the boat travelled round near Chanonry Point there was a nice big group of dolphins about 300 metres off the coast being very relaxed and they were all round the boat at one point - the film crew (seen in the photo) and the kids hardly knew where to look next. Brilliant !


©WDCS/Charlie Phillips

Mischief, Trail Scoop and Prism were among the dolphins but trying to get ID photos was a bit tricky as we were too busy with the filming. We returned to the harbour delighted at the success of the trip after so dodgy a start. Later we had our dinner delivered to us on the beach at Chanonry and were waiting for dolphins to turn up on the rising tide to do a bit more filming but the kids were so tired after a long and exciting day that we called it a day and went home very happy. Job Done. My (and the BBC's) grateful thanks to Gwyn and Paula from Dolphin Trips Avoch and to McGinty's Fish & Chip Shop, Fortrose for making it such a great day.

Best Wishes,

Charlie.