Harbour Porpoise

[Seabird]

Found around the coast of Caithness.
Gills Bay, Large numbers can be found here when they gather to mate during July and August.
Found to be regular visiters to Thurso Bay, Lybster Bay, Sinclair Bay, but can appear in most locations around the coast.
Can grow to about 6 feet in length
Numbers around the UK coast are in decline.

[kas]

I saw some in Thurso Bay last week and a single one last night.

[rich62_uk]

Saw lots on the ferry back from Orkney a few weeks ago in the Firth, just beautiful.....

[northener]

The best place is in Gills Bay Aug-Sept.
We get a group turn up as regular as clockwork every year around the same time. If you sit on your boat, leave the engine running (but NO props turning) they'll come right up to your boat and bomb around it.

If you turn the engine off, they seem to become a lot more wary. I believe that this is because they don't immediately recognise it as a generally non-threatening boat and stay away in case it's a large predator - like an Orca.

Speak to the guys at North Coast Marine Adventures in John O'Groats of you want to get up close to Porpoise.

[Kenn]

He he northener, I cheats sits up on the cliff above the bay an' waits for the inflatable to come to a gentle halt. Get a grand view through the binoculars but have also been out there amongst them a wonderful experience.

[northener]

Nothing beats a free show, Lizz!

I like porpoise, they never get any press like their bigger chums - the dolphins - yet they are very endearing creatures.

I like to sit on the tubes of the RIB and watch them wizz past just below the surface. It always makes me smile when they tilt onto their sides to get a better look up at you.

It really is a question of who's watching who?

If there's a lot in Gills Bay and there's a bit of a chop on the surface, it's like watching a bunch of aquatic Hells Angels. You'll get a long line of them all surfing the same wave and rocketing up to the boat at full speed, every one of them puffing away like mad.

Did you know that because of the noise they make, the old sailors' name for them is 'Puffing Pig'?
In Caithness dialect they are 'Paelag'.