Dolphins and whales of the Banffshire Coast.

24/09/2006 00:00:00 Most Britons find the idea of seeing a live whale in the UK an extraordinary and unusual sight, but not the people of the Banffshire Coast! The Banffshire Coast in the north east of Scotland is a familiar home to marine mammals such as Bottlenose dolphins, pilot, humpback, killer and minke whales.

Whale Watching on the Banffshire Coast
Surprisingly, even sightings of killer whales have been reported from sightseers on the shore of the Banffshire coast. Close by, at the Castle of Park there’s a whalebone arch, which is believed to be around one hundred and fifty years old and belonged to a blue whale, showing that whales have been visitors to Banffshire Coast for hundreds of years.

Dolphins of the Moray Firth
The Moray Firth is also home to up to 130 bottlenose dolphins - one of only two or three residential populations of dolphins to exist in UK waters. It is not uncommon for schools of around 20 – 30 dolphins to be spotted along the Banffshire coastline. Strangely, only one half of a dolphin’s brain sleeps at any given time, as they need to be conscious to breathe. They cannot go into a deep sleep, as they would suffocate! They have been known to give amazing displays of their acrobatic skills in full view of the shore.

It is also sometimes possible to see minke whales, orca, bottlenose dolphins, harbour porpoises and common and grey seals, as well as a huge diversity of birdlife, and recently a basking shark was seen just off of Banff.