A message from Kevin Hepworth, Please note the map did not appear when I pasted the document, I will try to post a copy or a link shortly
Ian
I would disagree with this statement off the forum, 'We tend to get them around the 21st of June and they stay for about 6 weeks. In the deeper water south of the city they can be seen closish to the shore. North of the city we only see them from the ferry, do you have a similar pattern?'
and point out that white beaked dolphins have been recorded year round in Grampian waters, but peak sightings occur between June and September and also add that whilst the north of the city is watched much less than the south we have had an awful lot of success from the land from sites such as Cruden Bay, Bullars of Buchan, Forvie and Balmedie, although the animals do tend to be further out from the beach at Balmedie. As we head east around the corner into the Moray Firth past Fraserburgh, we have had patchy success seeing white beaks, with 150m off the cliffs at Troup Head being the furthest westwards I have seen them from the land.
Interestingly, north of the city I have also seen rissos in attendance with groups of whitebeaks, both from the land and from the NORCET ferry surveys, which is always worth bearing in mind when estimating numbers because a group of animals may not always be the same species.
The map below from the East Grampian Cetacean Report shows the spread of reported sightings, as well as highlighting where land based watching has been concentrated and also illustrating the fact that inshore vessel based surveys between Stonehaven and Aberdeen have been highly successful with white beaked dolphin encounters.
Cheers,
Kevin