Dolphin encounter of a Moray Firth lifetime!
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Dolphins have been spotted in Hopeman harbour for possibly the first time in living memory.
Villagers were treated to a close-up view of about 20 of the creatures on Saturday.
This incredible video shows the quick-thinking crew of a fishing boat taking steps to avoid a potential accident.
The footage was taken by Steve Truluck, a veteran dolphin and whale watcher who's from Hopeman.
He said: "I've been dolphin-watching regularly for the last eight years now and I've never seen dolphins come into the harbour.
"None of the fishermen I've spoken to have ever seen it before either.
"Not only that, there doesn't seem to be anyone from the village who's even heard of it happening."
Steve explained how he happened to be in the right place at the right time to capture the moment.
He said: "A friend from Burghead had already contacted me, as had a guy from Cummingtson, to say they'd seen dolphins passing by out at sea.
"I knew they were heading my way so I went outside with my dog Riley for our daily walk.
"Just as we got to the harbour a pod of four dolphins – two mums and two babies – appeared.
"They were swimming into the harbour.
"By complete chance, at the same time, the only fishing boat that's still operating in the village was heading in the opposite direction.
"It was exactly the point where, once out of the harbour, a boat would normally accelerate out to sea.
"No one in their right mind would ever expect dolphins to be there.
"So you can hear me shouting on the video, trying to warn Daniel and Andrew on the boat.
"I wasn't worried about the mums – they can look after themselves.
"But I was scared that the boat might suddenly accelerate and collide with one of the babies.
"Fortunately, though, Daniel and Andrew spotted the dolphins and immediately slowed right down."
Steve, whose day job is window cleaning, also works with Hebriddean Whale Cruises which operates from Gairloch on the west coast.
His belief is the dolphins were hunting for salmon and came towards the harbour when they became aware of the boat.
He explains that the creatures enjoy 'bow riding'.
This involves them positioning themselves right in front of a boat.
The pressure wave of the advancing vessel then lifts them up and pushes them forward.
Steve said: "It's a bit like humans going surfing. They love it.
"I think the dolphins are missing not having so many boats out in the Moray Firth.
"Watch the video and you can see that as soon as the boat stopped, they lost interest in it and swam away."
To support his theory, Steve points to the fact that when the boat continued out to sea, the dolphins began to follow.
Then, when the vessel subsequently stopped at Covesea to lift up some shellfish pots, they again lost interest until the moment it continued on its way to Burghead.
About 20 dolphins in four different pods were spotted around Hopeman on Saturday.
As well as recording the video footage, Steve also managed to take some stunning photos of the pod which he saw.
Examining these images later, he has managed to identify one of the two mums as Kenobi, a dolphin with some distinctive markings as well as a chunk missing from her dorsal fin.
Looking back on the experience, he said: "It was just a magical moment for me.
"It happened in my home village on a beautiful sunny day with a perfect blue sky.
"And for it to all happen during lockdown made it even more exciting."
You can see many more fantastic images on the Steve Truluck At Sea - Mostly page on Facebook.
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