Dolphins

Moray Firth Dolphins

The Moray Firth is home to the most northerly population of bottlenose dolphins. Although dolphins live in many of the world’s oceans, within Europe they are considered rare. As such, the small and vulnerable population of dolphins in the Moray Firth is being protected under the EU Habitats Directive and a large part of the inner Moray Firth has been designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

 

A Scheme of Management has been developed to ensure that all of the activities that take place in the SAC take account of the well being of the Firth dolphin population and their habitat.

Numerous activities take place in the Firth that may impact upon dolphins and their habitat.

These include boat traffic, oil-related activities, agriculture and forestry; trade and sewage discharges, dredging and disposal of dredge material.

These activities are being tackled in many different ways by leading organisations such as WDCS & WWF