THIS is the breathtaking moment the King of Fish became a plaything – and then lunch – for a bottlenose dolphin.
An unlucky Atlantic Salmon, reckoned to be more than 3ft long and weighing in excess of 20lbs, was repeatedly tossed into the air before disappearing down the dolphin’s gullet.
The amazing close-up sequence was captured by a retired financial services manager from Kirkcaldy, Fife.
Allan Brown, 65, visited the Moray Firth in the hope of seeing dolphins and was rewarded with a display of hunting mastery.
The keen amateur photographer had been waiting on the shore at Chanonry Point on the Black Isle for four hours last Friday when the one-sided battle unfolded.
He said: “My brother-in-law was there. I almost knocked him off his feet with excitement.
“I was hoping that I was getting what I was seeing. I don’t think I’m going to beat this now.
“It played with the fish for a while, it was throwing it up into the air as well. I think the dolphins go under the water and just throw them up.”
A sightings officer from Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust conservation charity, Conor Ryan, said: “It can appear quite brutal to us, but they are top predators.
“Any top predator will appear to play with their prey but they are actually honing their hunting skills. They do throw it around in the air quite a lot and it can be quite disturbing from a human perspective but that’s what they need to do to survive.”
He added: “Dolphins have this cuddly image, and people tend to see them through rose-tinted glasses, but they are predators. They are kind of like the bears of the sea.”
Bottlenose dolphins swimming in the Moray Firth are thought to be the biggest in the world due to the cold waters. They can grow up to four metres long.
