Stunning photographs showing dolphins rocketing out of the Moray Firth have been captured by a nature photographer.
After spending hours waiting patiently for a glimpse of the elusive sea creatures, Alister Kemp struck gold and pictured the animals clearing the water’s surface by several feet.
Spending much of his Saturday at Chanonry Point with the hopes of picturing them, Mr Kemp said: “I love taking pictures of dolphins because they are such a challenge, if it was easy I don’t think I would be interested.
“The pictures that I managed to take were just a brief five-minute spell after waiting for a couple of hours but it was worth it.
“They’re just so elusive but if you study the tides you can get a pretty good idea of when they may turn up.”
The stories of Spirtle and Yoda
There have been numerous sightings of dolphins in the Moray Firth down the years.
Spirtle the dolphin suffered a bad case of sunburn back in 2016 after becoming stranded on Nigg Bay until she was spotted by a passing motorist.
Meanwhile, a bottlenose dolphin linked to the Moray Firth which was believed to be dead was spotted alive near Denmark late last year.
Known as Yoda, and believed to be around 13-years-old, the cetacean is part of the population often sighted off the north-east coast.
“Super shots”
The Facebook post has since received hundreds of likes and comments all praising the quality of the snaps since the pictures were uploaded on Saturday.
Alison Lyons wrote: “Wow, super shots,” while Gloria María R S said: “May God bless them and bless you. They’re beautiful creatures.”
Craig Cairns agreed, writing: “Superb shots.”
Mr Kemp took to the Facebook comments on his pictures to thank people for their kind words, adding: “Thanks for all the comments, likes and shares on these. All very much appreciated.”