This summer, while walking with the family along a stretch of the Fife Coastal Path just south of St Andrews, we were delighted to see a school of bottlenose dolphins close to the rocky shore.

The day was cool with thick haar continually rolling in from the sea. Periodically the enveloping greyness would lift revealing moulting eider ducks bobbing in the flat-calm sea and families of sandwich terns diving for small fish. As I scanned the water of St Andrews Bay with my binoculars, I suddenly saw the unmistakeable dark shape of a dolphin’s fin breaking the surface.

“Dolphin!” I shrieked. We all looked out to sea and more fins appeared as the mist began to lift. There were about 15 individuals in all and we sat on the rocks transfixed by the sight before us. Some of the dolphins were no more than a few hundred yards from the shore.

They moved slowly back and forwards along the same stretch of shore, possibly feeding on a shoal of sprats, herring or mackerel. Occasionally, a rolling dolphin would leap clean into the air, splashing spectacularly back into the water.
Taking hold of the binoculars, our 10 year-old daughter squealed with delight: “I can see their faces! I can see their faces!”

It was a memorable day and also perhaps a surprising one, given that one might not normally associate dolphins with Fife. The reality is that they have been frequent visitors for a number of years now, particularly in St Andrews Bay. They are certainly commonly seen further up the east coast, especially around the entrance to Aberdeen harbour – and, of course, the Moray Firth dolphins are world famous.

In fact, Professor Phil Hammond of St Andrews University tells me that the Fife dolphins are from the Moray Firth population with researchers having matched most of them photographically.

“We see them in St Andrews Bay and round Fifeness into the Forth, mainly in the summer but occasionally in other months too,” he says.

This Moray Firth dolphin population and its associated nomadic groups are very special in that they are the most northerly resident bottlenose dolphin in the world with over 130 animals currently recorded. They are a lot bigger and fatter compared with their relations from warmer climates due to the large amount of blubber they have in their bodies to insulate them from the cold temperatures of the North Sea.

Dolphins probably find the north-east of Fife attractive because the coastal headlands and strong currents attract an abundance of fish. They use their sharp teeth to catch fish when hunting and sometimes hunt in groups chasing their prey to the surface of the sea, communicating through a series of clicks and whistling noises.

This Scottish population of dolphins is classified as endangered because of the relatively small number of individuals. In the rest of the UK, there is another reasonably sized resident population based in Cardigan Bay, Wales. There are also smaller groups off south Dorset, around Cornwall, the Channel Islands and in the Sound of Barra. The total UK population is probably less than 300 individuals.

This means that the Scottish and UK populations are very vulnerable to all kinds of environmental change, and also possibly from human disturbance such as offshore drilling activity or from pleasure boats trying to view them.
There is no hard evidence to suggest that the Scottish east coast population has undergone any significant change in recent years, but vigilance is essential to ensure these magnificent animals do not become lost for ever.