Moray Firth Dolphins

There are many legends in Scotland that are unbelievable, such as that of the Loch Ness Monster, but some stories are absolutely true. You may find it hard to believe, but the largest population of bottle-nosed dolphins in Europe are found near Inverness, Scotland. 

The dolphins are said to come into the Moray Firth with the tide, but many locals will tell you that they can be seen at just about any time of the day. They are best viewed at the narrowest part of the Firth, Chanonry Point. 

It was my last day in Scotland, Frances and I only had a few morning hours before we had to catch our train back to Edinburgh. Thus we decided to go hunting for dolphins. (To shoot photos with our cameras - nothing more!). We took the local bus over to the town of Fortrose, about 30 minutes from Inverness. Once in Fortrose, we briskly walked about 30 minutes out of town to the Point.

We arrived at the point, on the rocky beach. Our luck with the weather had been holding and we’d experienced very little rain. It began to spit as we arrived, but that let up after a few minutes. The Firth, like most of the water I’d seen in the Inverness area, was a dark color due to high quantities of peat in the soil. We walked out on the rocky beach, taking care to avoid slipping on seaweed, and commenced watching for dolphins. After about 10 minutes, I saw a head poke out of the water. I had not imagined this, Frances saw it as well. However neither of us could confirm what animal it was. In addition to dolphins, many seals are in the area. 

We watched this creature move across the water until it got close enough to identify. While we never saw more than just it’s nose and eyes, it was definitely a seal. Unfortunately our time at the point was short, and we had to return to Inverness for our train. We didn’t see any dolphins, but the point was well worth the visit. 

Hunting Nessie

Loch Ness, mysterious, dark waters, hiding a monster or an overhyped lake in the Scottish Highlands? Perhaps a bit of both.

Loch Ness is a huge loch {Side note: Don’t call it a lake, you will offend the locals!} just outside of Inverness. The loch is full of cold, dark water. The water is dark because of the peat in the soil and the water temperature never rises above 7 degrees C. While the loch varies in depth, at it’s deepest, 66 double-decker busses could be stacked, nose to nose and only then would one reach from the bottom to the top of the loch. It’s deep. Legend has it that Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster lives in the lake.

Frances and I headed out to see if we could catch a glimpse of Nessie, or just see the loch in all it’s beauty. We certainly succeeded at the latter. To get to Loch Ness we took the Jacobite Temptation tour. Our tour began with a bus ride to the ferry. During the 35 minute ride, our tour guide, Sue, told us history of the town, river and loch. Then we had a 30 minute ferry ride across the loch. Earlier in the day it had been rainy, but during the ferry ride the rain mostly held off, although it did spit on us some. Clouds hung low in the sky, the water looked dark and foreboding; it was eerily beautiful. 

Our ferry docked at Urquhart Castle and we got off to explore. The current ruins of the castle date back to the 1500’s, but history shows that there has been some sort of a fortress at this site since the 300’s. We had nearly an hour to explore the ruins and appreciate the beauty of the stones against the water. 

After an hour, we boarded our bus back to town. On the way back, we were able to spot the shaggy highland cows that the locals call Heighlen Kuhe.

In the end we didn’t see Nessie, of course that means I’ll need to return and try again!

Inverness

After a three week seminar in Leipzig, I headed across the North Sea up to Scotland. I was joined by my friend Frances in Edinburgh and we headed further north to Inverness. 

Inverness, best known for Loch Ness and the Loch Ness Monster, Nessie, is a small city (it’s official - they’ve reached city status with 58,000 inhabitants!) with lots of offer. Flowing through the city is the River Ness. In fact, Inverness’ name comes from old Gaelic, meaning at the mouth of the river Ness.

Inverness is a very walkable city and walk we did. Our first full day we set out to explore. We headed first down the river away from the city center to the Ness Island. This island in the middle of the river is accessible from both sides by bridges. The island is lined with walking trails, fairy lights and full of natural beauty. A bit of rain didn’t keep us from enjoying the island.

Speaking of bridges, Inverness has a number of them criss crossing the river. The most favorite bridge is the bouncy bridge. While it has an official name, it’s locally known as the bouncy bridge. As our Loch Ness tour guide would later tell us, this bridge allows one to feel the effects of whiskey for free! It’s fun to walk across. Luckily for us, it was the bridge we had to take to reach our B&B.

Inverness has a castle on a hill overlooking the river. In order to enter the castle, one must be quite naughty and sent to trial. Today it is a working courthouse. We were not naughty enough to enter and thus only spent time walking the grounds.

Inverness is truly a 9 - 5 town. After 5pm most establishments close and the town seems vacant. However the truth is that nearly all of the 58,000 people have packed themselves into Hootenannys Pub. (Okay perhaps that number is exaggerated, but it is quite packed!). Known for it’s live Scottish music, it is the place to be. In the center of the pub is a large oval table, reserved for any musicians who wish to play. The only caveat is that they must play traditional Scottish music. Our first night there, we heard a guitarist and a violinist. The second night included an accordian player, flutist and guitarist. The atmosphere was great as was my shandy!