The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Visual feast as dolphin snaps up fish supper
Wildlife: Photographer in right place at right time – again
Salmon in the Moray Firth have no chance when there are hungry bottlenose dolphins about.
It was a case of “down the hatch” as one of the hungry mammals was pictured tossing a whole salmon up in the air then gobbling it down in one go.
Amateur photographer Alister Kemp, 51, watched from a hidden vantage point as the dolphin feasted on the migratory salmon.
He managed to take a number of pictures as a hungry bottlenose tucked into its fish supper.
Mr Kemp said: “I took these photos this weekend at Chanonry Point.
“The salmon have started to appear in greater numbers in the past few weeks which, in turn, brings the dolphins in to feed.
“Chanonry Point is a favourite place for these dolphins to feed in the summer months.”
Mr Kemp, who works for a whisky distillery near his home in Evanton, Rossshire, regularly takes pictures of the dolphin population.
He added: “I am a keen amateur and I spend a lot of time capturing the behaviour of these fascinating mammals.”
Earlier this year, Mr Kemp managed to capture a series of spectacular images of a herd of red deer leaping over a fence one by one.
He was on a photography trip in the north when he spotted the animals by the roadside.
He took the video from the roadside between Helmsdale and Kinbrace, in Sutherland.
He said afterwards: “They didn’t stick around to have their picture taken.
“There was a group of about 20, so I managed to film some of them. The light was fading anyway, so
“Chanonry Point is a favourite place for these dolphins”
it was better conditions for video.”
It’s not the first – or even second – time the photographer has been in the right place at the right time.
In October last year, he filmed two red deer stags in their annual rutting ritual. The footage, recorded in Strathconon, Ross-shire, features two stags facing each other and letting out a loud roar before running towards each other and locking antlers. The rut sees stags competing for control of the hinds.