Category: Stories

By WDC Volunteer Abi As part of the Shorewatch programme, we visit the Shorewatch sites that are scattered across Scotland to help our community volunteers by providing them with support and some company while doing surveys. I was lucky enough to go with the Katie, our Shorewatch Officer, on a trip to the isle of

By Jess Turley, Residential Volunteer and Guide at the Scottish Dolphin Centre Having arrived at the centre in the middle of the snow we had in March, I was keen to get out and start exploring the local area. As the snow had limited getting out on the roads, I decided to focus my search

Ospreys 🦅 Ospreys start arriving at Spey Bay in late March or April, after an incredible journey of up to 5,000km from their winter home in West Africa. They come here to foster a new generation of chicks – between 250 and 300 pairs are thought to be breeding across the whole of Scotland. Ospreys

By Alison Rose, Scottish Dolphin Centre Manager  The Scottish Dolphin Centre is managed by marine charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), and is situated in a stunningly beautiful location at the mouth of the river Spey in Moray, Scotland. Visitors can spot wild bottlenose dolphins, osprey and seals, and discover more about these amazing creatures

By Jamie McDermaid I have spent the last 7 weeks with my fellow residential volunteer Ailish at the Scottish Dolphin Centre in Spey Bay, and it has really raced by. It’s been a really fun experience but also an incredibly enlightening one. I’ve learnt so much more about whales, dolphins, and their conservation, and have

By Jamie McDermaid, Scottish Dolphin Centre volunteer and photographer Being a residential volunteer at Spey Bay has been a wonderful experience for many reasons: the people, the visitors, living by the sea, the mountain views, the sunsets over the river, the Northern Lights… But one thing has captivated me above all else – the wildlife.

By Maddie Cayley one of our 2022 residential Volunteers Driving north to join the team at the Scottish Dolphin Centre back in May was a surreal experience. Spey Bay had been, until that point, a hazy memory for me. I had visited the centre once when I was small in the hopes of seeing my

A Spey Bay story by Laura Harper, previous WDC residential volunteer and Scottish Wildlife Trust ranger  It was a bright March morning, still quite early, when I was awoken by light streaming into my attic bedroom window.  I leapt out of bed, opened the sky light and stuck my head out to get my first

By Scottish Dolphin Centre residential volunteer Maddie Cayley  At the end of August, Shorewatch Coordinator Katie and I travelled over to Skye to visit WDC’s two existing Shorewatch sites on the island, Kilt Rock and Armadale, and to open our new site at Bornisketaig in North Skye. Skye is magical all on its own but

By Nicola Hodgins, WDC Research Co-ordinator Risso’s dolphins are an amazing yet relatively little-known species. I’ve been lucky enough to spend time studying them off the west coast of Scotland over the last 13 years and I’ve come to recognise individuals and have enjoyed observing long-term friendships and family groups. It’s always a joy to