Hammered home

I would hate to be accused of stating the obvious but if dolphins Mischief, Spirtle and their merry mates have been noticed going AWOL for the first time in and around the Moray Firth, isn’t it just possible that the ramming of multiple wind turbine bases into the seabed with 200 -300 tonne pile drivers has encouraged them to leave home?

Hammer blows are being delivered at approximately one per second and, depending on the size of the hammer and required penetration depth, the operation may take several hours and as many as 5,000 strikes to drive just one pile into the sea bed.

The noise will be horrific and will travel through the water 4 -5 times faster than air and for many miles. How could it not affect marine life?

If that is the reason the Moray Firth dolphins have left the once-peaceful waters they used to inhabit, who can blame them? Their antics have enthralled thousands of spectators but now it appears visitors will be sorely disappointed at their no-show and yet another tourist attraction will be sacrificed for unreliable industrial wind. LYNDSEY WARD Darach Brae, Beauly

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