A basking shark was captured off the shore in Moray by a local drone and photography enthusiast.
Charlie Lovelace was walking his dog near the harbour at Strathlene on Tuesday when he noticed a group of people looking out at sea.
The 54-year-old said: “As I was coming into the area of a park, I just saw about 10 people looking at the water.
“So I thought it was maybe the seals they were looking at, or dolphins.
“But then when I parked the car, I could just see this massive fin, dorsal fin sticking out the water.
“So I just quickly got my drone up in the air and flew over and then I noticed it was a basking shark.
“It was quite impressive.”
About 30 feet long
Mr Lovelace, who has been using drones to capture wildlife for the past four years, said the shark was “massive” and guessed it was about 30 feet long.
Having worked as a fisherman and now a marine officer, Mr Lovelace said he had seen “every sea animal possible” but that this was definitely one of his highlights.
Feeding on plankton, the basking shark spent a few hours only a couple of hundred metres from shore with crowds looking on. It then disappeared off the coast.
A few other sightings of these creatures have been seen in Burghead and Hopeman on Wednesday.
Basking sharks tend to be spotted more often from shore from July to September, particularly in the Hebrides.Â
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