Greyhope Bay
Dolphin Spotting
Latin Name: Tursiops truncates
Size: 1.9 - 3.9 m
Spotted daily from the Greyhope Bay Centre at Torry Battery, bottlenose dolphins can be seen feeding, jumping and playing at the entrance to Aberdeen Harbour. No need for binoculars, the dolphins are spotted on most days throughout the year.
The dolphins visit Aberdeen to feed and to socialise, our location is the "cool" place to hang out!
Wildlife sightings
There are many other cetaceans and wildlife to spot from the Greyhope Bay Centre including seals, otters, harbour porpoise, minke whale, humpback whales, and over 200 species of birds.
The binoculars in the centre are free for all visitors to use. You can add your wildlife sightings to our sightings board on the back wall.
Check out our website to sign up for the next Shorewatch Training by Whale and Dolphin Conservation at
greyhopebay.com/events
Distribution
The largest resident bottlenose dolphin population in Scotland is found in the north east and is the northern most limit of their global range.
This resident population has approximately 190 individuals with a range that extends from the Moray Firth and south along the Aberdeenshire coast to the Firth of Tay.
The Lighthouse Field Research Station in Cromarty have collated a photo-identification catalogue that shows the sightings of bottlenose dolphins identified by the University of Aberdeen and the University of St. Andrews on the east coast of Scotland.
The 5 dolphins above were identified during a research study in the summer of 2021 by masters student Emily Burnett at the University of Aberdeen. The study was conducted on the north pier of Aberdeen Harbour and included recording dolphin whistles by collecting acoustic data.
