DOLPHINS

by Ken Farrow

One of the great bonuses of going diving in Scotland is the inexplicable pleasure generated by seeing dolphins. I use the adjective intentionally since they always produce an irrational effect of elation and joy in all the divers that I have seen.

It might be easy to explain that when one sees then leaping out of the water in acrobatic displays or watches a substantial pod surging up and down in formation. However even just a short single sighting can have a cheering effect and lift the spirits. The nearest similar effect would be that on a grey, dull, overcast day when suddenly the sun comes out and bathes everything with a warming, golden glow.

There is a widespread tendency to think of dolphins as only seen somewhere else - the reality is that they are widespread. Once you start looking for them it becomes quite common to see dolphins. In part that is because with only a brief glimpse it is easy to dismiss the sighting as an aberration particularly if only an individual. My first memory of dolphins was a large pod surging along down the sound of Mull towards Oban. No doubt they too play around the Hispania and Rhondo but to them probably only maximum tidal conditions provide the fun conditions they appreciate.

Most recently I saw just one or a few gently ambling down the sound of Raasay as we raced up to Rona. My local diving is however off the East coast of Scotland (mainly just south of Aberdeen) and the Moray coastline (mainly the eastern end). Here too we quite frequently see porpoises and dolphins either individuals or small pods. In particular we have often seen dolphins when diving Cape1 rock between there and Bow Fiddle rock.

Off the east coast I have memories of chasing around after dolphins just out of Cove after diving the wrecks down at Findon Ness. On one occasion that nearly lead to a diving incident which would no doubt have featured at the annual report at the Diving Officers Conference "Reason for running out of fuel - were chasing around after dolphins and forgot the time!"

Whales, dolphins and porpoises are all mammals which have extensively adapted to an aquatic life. Those adaptations are so extensive that they have the appearance of fish and not only live but give birth in the water. Being mammals they are warm blooded, air breathing and suckle their young from milk producing mammary glands.

The general name Cetaceans covers the whales, dolphins and porpoises all of which can be readily distinguished from sharks and large fish by the tail fins. Fish have vertical tail fins whilst the mammals all have horizontal tail fins. The appearance is much the same as we divers would have if we glued our fins together which effectively is what evolution has done to their "feet".

The cetaceans can be divided into two groups those with Teeth and those with Whalebone or Baleen in the mouth. The former bite their prey whilst the latter sieve out small organisms, plankton, krill etc. just as does the Basking Shark. In British waters one could encounter about half a dozen Whalebone Cetaceans all of which are large whales from the Lesser Rorqual (up to 30 ft.) to the Blue whale (up to 100 ft.). Of the toothed varieties we could see about a dozen different types of whales as well as the smaller dolphins and porpoise.

The commonest Cetacean encountered is the Common Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). This is up to 6 ft. long with black body, flippers, fins, flukes and a white underbelly with a black streak extending from the flippers to the comer of the mouth. The Porpoise has a smoothly rounded snout without and beak or nose like feature. Most of my sightings particularly off the East and Moray coast appear in size and colour and appearance to be consistent with Common Porpoise. They do not seem prone to leaping out of the water but generally surge along with a group tending to give a Loch Ness Monster like appearance if a few humps appear in line simultaneously.

The Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis) which appears to be only less common than the Common Porpoise is slightly larger (up to 8 but generally about 6 ft.). It is readily distinguished by the characteristic beak, streaked side and a ring round the eye.

The other Cetacean easily encountered is the Bottle-nosed Dolphin (Tursiops trtmcatus) which I have most recently seen off Banff. They seem more prone to leap out of the water which makes it relatively easy to photograph and identify them. This is a relatively large creature of up to 12 feet.

The dolphins tend to have a characteristic beak which tends to give them an engaging facial expression. An exception to that is Risso’s Dolphin (Grampus griseus) which has no distinct beak but instead a bulging forehead.

The Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) is the most readily recognised Cetacean and as those who attended Scotfed 91 know is no stranger to the North Sea. My neighbour in the Farm below us has also seen Killer Whales from the Cliffs of Downies ( just South of Aberdeen - Ed.) where I live.

The best days for spotting dolphins are relatively calm ones so that the surface water disturbances show up easily. A fast moving boat also seems to have more appeal so divers spotting dolphins is probably commoner with RHIBS than back in the old days of inflatables.

On several occasions I have tried to get in the water with dolphins (and have been laughed at from the mainland to Orkney) but without seeing a wild dolphin underwater. Unlike seals dolphins appear relatively uninterested in we divers though possibly they merely observe us by sonar scanning from well outside the visible range rather as seals tend to hover at the limit of visibility.

Occasionally a single tame individual seems to settle in a particular venue and play with local boats swimmers and divers. The most well known of those was probably Donald the Dolphin who lived off the Isle of Man for a good while.

More recently there has been a dolphin off Dingle in Ireland (as described at the Edinburgh Scotfed conference) and currently there is also one off Amble in Northumberland. ( Looks like he moved south to the Mouth of the Tyne near Newcastle and then disappeared. - Ed. ) Details of the latter are available from the local tourist board who also provide an "etiquette guide". It is widely known that dolphins have large brains and are undoubtedly intelligent. After all it is difficult to imagine a better life-style that cavorting in the sea all day and living on fresh seafood. Possibly they have telepathic powers to communicate with us but if so all what appears to come across is a happy message -perhaps it is some form of religion.

Do not forget these animals are wild, free and non vegetarian. Like bears they have a friendly image but remember that a trainer at an Aquatic Zoo in North America was killed after being "played with" for ten minutes by her Orcinus orca "class".

Ironically the best place in Scotland with a high probability of dolphin spotting is almost inland at Inverness. There a pod frequent the mouth of the river, Ironically the dolphins are passed over by unknowing travellers north since they frequently disport below the Kessock bridge at Inverness and are being studied by a group (of people) from Aberdeen University.

Further reading about dolphins is given in :-

British Whales Dolphins & Porpoises, F.C.Fraser, British Museum (Natural History),ISBN 0 565 05549 6.

Dolphins, A. Alpers, Robin Clark, ISBN 086072024 1.6

Whales, Dolphins and Seals (and their Kin), Longman Group, ISBN 0 582 89262.7