The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Whale sightings prompt creation of marine project.
Base at Kinghorn is first of four being established with the aid of volunteers
A surge in humpback whale sightings has prompted the creation of the Forth Marine Mammal Project, a community scheme that will record marine life in the Firth of Forth.
The Shorewatch group is setting up a base at Kinghorn, where enthusiasts flocked earlier this year for a glimpse of visiting humpbacks. It also intends to create stations at Pittenweem, Granton and North Berwick.
Sam Tedcastle, who has led the initiative with Patsy Wood, said: “People have known for a long time that there are dolphins and that whales come but we hadn’t realised how frequently. Hopefully we will record sightings over a few years and be able to establish patterns.”
A Shorewatch kit of binoculars and recording equipment, funded by anonymous donation, is to be installed at the paths overlooking Kinghorn beach and a training session has already been held for around 15 volunteers.
As well as the four humpback whales recorded in January and February, minke whales are seen regularly and in the past there have been sperm whales and orcas.
Sam said: “We don’t want to see sperm whales. If they come to the Forth, it means there is something wrong.
“The humpbacks, we think, are coming here to feed, which we think is a good sign, although it could indicate there is a problem with their food source elsewhere.”
“The more we find out, the more questions arise and these are the questions we want to answer.”
The Forth Shorewatch sites will add to the 18 already established in Scotland.
Meanwhile, a Fife whale has been tracked all the way to Iceland.
Enthusiast Lyndsay McNeill spent months poring over hundreds of photos and videos to find Sonny, the humpback who returned to the Forth in January, a year after first being sighted there.
Video posted by Arctic Sea Tours, which runs whale-spotting trips from Dalvík, showed the 40-ft mammal leaping out of the water and hairdresser Lyndsay, a member of Forth Marine Mammal Project, matched markings on his underside to those in photos taken of Sonny in the Forth by fellow member Bruce Meldrum.