WATCH: Delight for wildlife spotters after 'rare' Northern Bottlenose Whales spotted in Moray Firth
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A CHANCE aquatic encounter has delighted the team on the Dolphin Spirit tour boats – after not one but three rare Northern Bottlenose Whales made an appearance.
The Dolphin Spirit social media account were stunned when their Michief rib boat encountered the trio of whales, which can grow up to nearly 10 metres in length and are among the deepest known diving mammals on the planet.
The species has been recorded diving to depths of almost 2400 metres in their hunt for deep sea squid.
And although their range does stretch across the North Atlantic and on to the deep underwater canyons off the Norwegian coast, their deep sea feeding behaviour makes them a more unusual sight in the shallower parts of the North Sea, which typically has an average depth of just 90 metres.
Commenting about their Moray Firth encounter, a spokesperson for the Dolphin Spirit said: "In nine years of running boat trips in the Moray firth this is the first time we've ever seen these.
"And we got not just one, but three! Our skipper was very excited as were our customers who were incredibly lucky!"
