^{5-2-2012. Harbour Porpoise off Lybster this afternoon. see reports page.}

^{29-1-2012. Well done all those that took part in the Highland Rangers organised Dunnet beach clean.  There was a good turn out from the general public, and as usual the Caithness Country side Volunteers were also involved in the back breaking work of picking up all the rubbish. By the end of the clean a very large skip was full by what looked to be mostly discarded fishing equipment, ie. bits of net string and rope and plastic containers, a very damming indictement of the behaviour of fishing boat crews. I saw no domestic rubbish collected from the beach although i suspect some small amount must have been found by the other vounteers. I saw just 3 dead birds, Whitewing Gull, Shag and a very young Puffin. Pictures were taken of the beach clean and these will be published by the publicity dept of the Highland Rangers.}

^{28-1-2012. First North Caithness sighting this year of a harbour Porpoise.}

^{23-1-2012. Harbour Porpoise reported off Whaligoe Steps Ulbster.}

^{Humpback Whales seen off Collieston Aberdeenshire on the 21st and again on the 22rd, one sighting reported 3 Humpback Whales. see sightings on folowing web site.     http://www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk/}  

^{16-1-2012. More Humpback Whale sightings NE Scotland see link.}

^{Karen informed me that an unpresidented number of Porbeagle Sharks were seen stealing cod from the anglers fishing from the Silverline boat in Thurso Bay on Saturday 14th.}

^{15-1-2012. Humpback Whales reported off the Aberdeenshire coast on 2 occassion on the 15th. My thanks to Kevin Hepworth for the heads up. Remains of a Sperm Whale were found in a Geo in Orkney over the weekend.}

^{Colin Bird}

^{14-1-2012. First sighting recorded for Caithness 2012. Harbour Porpoise seen logging on the surface at Whaligoe Steps  Ulbster.}

^{Colin Bird}

^{13-1-2012. Tomorrow looks like it could be a good day for sea watching around the Caithness coast with light winds from the West first thing swinging round to the South West later. I will be at Swiney Hill Lybster at about 08.30am and perhaps the Whaligoe Steps later, if the wind from the SW disturbs the water along the East coast i may move to the North coast and see whats happening there. Harbour porpoise are the most likely cetacean to be seen but it's not unusual for Killer Whales or Humpback Whales to be seen at this time of year somewhere around the Scottish coast.}

^{Colin Bird}

^{7-1-2012. A new page is now available in the gallery. The page shows some of the more detailed Risso's Dophin pictures and hopefully these can be matched against other pictures taken either locally or in other parts of the country. If anyone has a match i can e-mail the details of the picture sighting to them.}

^{Colin Bird.}

^{1-1-2012. Happy and Prosperous New Year to you all, and many thanks for the 15000+ visits you made to this web site during 2011. It's a new year and i'm working on new ideas for the site, if anyone would like to forward an idea then please do so by clicking on my name on the home page and entering your idea on the e-mail, this site is for those that are interested in whats happening around the Caithness coast and therefore it endeavours to provide the information that is of interest to the users.  I will also try and publish any dates that i will be watching so that anyone who would like to join me and perhaps see how the watches are carried out with the view of starting watches of their own. The dates will be published around 5 days before the watch, this is because there is lttle point in setting up a watch just to cancell because of bad weather. The dates wil be published on the Latest News Page...................... Danielle Gibas Sea Watch Foundation sightings Officer is looking for Regional Sea Watch volunteers for 2012. Danielle is also looking at expanding a successful boat watching scheme, if anyone is interested please contact Danielle     danielle.gibas@seawatchfoundation.org.uk   Looks like an exciting year ahead.}

^{Colin Bird.}

^{29-12-2011. This report on the Seawatch Foundation web site will have scientist spending months in debate. It is a known fact that Bottlenose dolphins will kill Harbour Porpoise and this as been reported and photographed, so a report and pictures showing a Bottlenose Dolphin appearing to play with 2 Harbour Porpoise takes some explaining. The report and pictures show something that as never been seen or reported before and it goes to show how important sea watching data gathered by the public can be to the scientific community. What a fantastic sea watch Stephanie had on Christmas Day i'm green with envy. link}

^{28-12-2011. Sperm Whale found Dead on beach in Norfolk. Killer Whales seen off Sumburgh Head Shetland. Link}

^{24-12-2011. We are nearing the end of another year, so i would like to Thank all those people who sent in their sightings of Whales and Dolphins this year without which this site could not exist. I also take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Festive Season and a Happy New Year for 2012.}

^Colin.

^{12-12-2011. Humpback Whale seen and Photographed off Sumburgh Head see link to Nature Shetland web site.}

^{11-12-2011. Thurso lifeboat crew reported seeing 4 Harbour Porpoise near the Scrabster Lighthouse this morning. Report received from Karen Munro.}

^{5-12-2011. The weather is being of little help to sea watchers so i was pleased to receive a picture from Karen which seems to show 2 Harbour Porpoise in Thurso Bay over the weekend. Just down the coast in Collieston Aberdeenshire there were reports of Humpback Whales seen on Saturday and Sunday. December and January seem to be good months for Humpback Whale sightings on the East Scottish coast. See the Seawatch Foundation report by clicking on this link.}

^{1-12-2011. The future for wildlife in and around the UK is looking very bleak if the present Westminster Government get their way. see this WDCS  blog.}