Incident 02 August 2009

A “30-40ft” Northern Bottle Nose whale was reported to have stranded within Cromarty Harbour and one person seen to be in the water alongside it; a very dangerous and ill advised action. The team was paged to attend but in the event the whale had self freed and headed out towards the Sutors.

Whilst interviewing eyewitnesses a member of the public reported having seen two other whales of similar species stranded on the fore-shore adjacent to Rose Farm, approximately 2 miles further west.

The two team members tasked to this event confirmed the whales’ location and subsequently members of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) team were tasked together with experts from the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC), SSPCA and Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. The two Cromarty team members assisted as appropriate.