Some more excellent cetacean watching today with Seascape Expeditions at
Ullapool. We came across a pod of about 10-15 common dolphins which included
some tiny calves, probably just a day or two old. Wonderful to see, one of
them was so small that at first I thought that it was a fish jumping 😆. I've
never seen such tiny calves. Also some tail slapping today.
Other highlights included harbour porpoise and great views of an adult white-tailed eagle, common seals and grey seals.
I posted these photos on the Facebook group Hebrides and NW Scotland cetacean sightings (opens in a new window) and a couple of far more experienced observers
than I commented that the youngster looks neonatal because the dorsal fin has
not fully stiffened and also that the fetal folds are still visible in the
above photo. So the general consensus is that this is a new born baby just a
day or two old.
Common dolphins can be anything between 1.7m - 2.5m long. Looking at the above
two photo, surely the calf is less than half the size of the adult, making it
somewhere between 0.65m - 1m long. From what I saw when it first jumped out on
it's own, when I thought that it was a fish, I would guess that it's at the shorter end of the scale.
Yellow saxifrage growing at the side of the A832 just above Dundonnell.
Ullapool harbour.
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