Assynt the Dolphin
Saturday 15th June 2013 at around 10.00pm was our first Loch Dhrombaig encounter with Bottlenose Dolphins, Tursiops truncates.
That date is easy to remember as it was the day we moved permanently to Assynt. The time? Because we had just moved permanently to Assynt and were just about to crash but we took, what would have been one last look out of the window.
The view from our home is due east across Loch Dhrombaig to Quinag and at that time of year it was basically still daylight. (Photo 1)
I don’t remember if we spotted them simultaneously but suddenly, we were watching three bottlenose dolphins near the west side of Loch Dhrombaig. Not were they just simply there but they were leaping from and splashing back into the loch.
It felt like a welcoming party and to add to that we had time to phone our neighbours. They joined us at a slightly better vantage point two minutes’ walk from home. After the dolphins departed, we all decided to celebrate with a dram back at ours. Slàinte!
May 2023
Over the last 11 years we have seen bottlenose dolphins from various locations around the coast of Assynt, including Rubh’an Dunain, Stoer Head Lighthouse, Stoer and Clachtoll Bays. However, it wasn’t until 30thMay 2023 that we saw them in Loch Dhrombaig again.
That was a close encounter, so close in fact we heard the single dolphin blow before we saw the animal. We were standing at one of the small bays on the loch shore when we heard a soft ‘chuff’ sound. We said “dolphin?” but saw nothing. Seconds later it came up about 35m away and blew again. We managed to hear a third blow and then this dolphin was gone.
I did manage to get two photos on the third surfacing. (Photo 2) Thirty minutes of waiting for another photo opportunity left us disappointed.
The blow was the sound we heard, and the spray of water you can sometimes see, when a dolphin breathes out and clears away any water resting on top of its blowhole. The water spray doesn’t come from the dolphin’s lungs; it is simply water sitting on top of its head around the blowhole being forced away as it exhales but before it inhales.
May 2024
The next Loch Dhrombaig encounter was 7th May 2024. This was a pod of five animals including a calf. (Photo 3) We again saw this group from the house which is less than 500m from the loch’s edge. A bit more time for photos – I managed to take six! This link will take you to a short article on our website about that encounter Right place at the right time.
And so, to our latest encounter.
I was at home on 29th August and Avril was quite literally just getting home. She had parked the car and before getting out quickly looked in the rear-view mirror which, among other things, gives a view of part of Loch Dhrombaig.
Next thing she was shouting “dolphins in the loch”. I looked out the window, saw several fins close to the west side of loch and grabbed the camera.
There are two ‘headlands’ as we look at the loch, the dolphins were between these and heading north, i.e. out of the loch! The first photo was taken from the front door at 16:11:09 and the last one at 16:11:50.
We are very fortunate in knowing a number of folks connected with a few of the cetacean charities and monitoring groups. It was time to make contact. Why?
Many of the whales and dolphins around the coast of Scotland can be recognised as individuals since they have unique scars and/or shading on their bodies. This often includes damage to their dorsal fins and four of the 29th August dolphins had clear marks, etc. in that regard.
Marine Mammal Research
Marine mammal researcher Nicola Hodgins who is now based on Lewis picked up the challenge with relish. We first met Nicola at Stoer Head Lighthouse in 2016 while she was on maternity leave. At that time, she was employed by Whale and Dolphin Conservation and had been studying the Risso’s dolphins in the Minch since 2010.
Now she is self-employed and lives on Lewis so in her own words is “doing contract work here and there and a bit of guiding, trying to find a way to keep my Risso’s work going as I can’t walk away after so many years, I owe it to the dolphins, and it’s why we moved here, to be on their doorstep!”
I think that’s one of the reasons I enjoy ‘wildlife’ so much. There are so many people involved at lots of different levels that do it for the love of it and not just as a way to pay the bills.
Back to the dolphins. Nicola had the photos for less than 24 hours and was back with some good news for us.
Of the seven individuals photographed, four had distinct dorsal fin marks. Three of those had been seen before and were already in Nicola’s ‘West Coast Wanderers’ Bottlenose Dolphin Catalogue. It seems they have a good history of roaming the seas!
Photo 4 (228) – BND0036 First sighted in 2018 off of Thurso, seen subsequently in 2019, 2022 and 2023 in various locations including Staffa and Mull.
Photo 5 (222) – BND0063 First sighted in 2021 off Catacol, seen subsequently in 2023 off Ardnamurchan and Mull. This refers to the foreground dolphin. More about the rearmost dolphin in a minute.
Photo 6 (208) – BND0046 (Bishop). First sighted in 2023 off Rona. [The rearmost dolphin in Photo 6 does not appear to show any distinguishing marks]
An exciting new sighting
So, back to Photo 5 which contains two dolphins. Nicola was able to ID the foreground individual however, the rear dolphin was not in her catalogue. It is now though, and its number is BND0077.
As this was its first time having been recorded and ‘catalogued’ we were given the opportunity to give it a name if we wished. Saying yes please was easy. A name? That’s a different matter. Many of the dolphins have a given name which is done just for a bit of fun. Not many of the names are of a his or her type as their sex is not always known.
In the end it was obvious what we should suggest for 0077’s name. Assynt!
From now on any photos of west coast bottlenose dolphins that are posted on social media etc. will be well scrutinised by us to see if Assynt the Dolphin is among them.
DnA Haines