Stunning footage has been captured of whales making a surprise visit to turbine technicians at a North Sea wind farm.
A pair of videos, taken in the last month and shared by SSE Renewables, have been captured by tech David Later at the Beatrice project, around eight miles off the Caithness coast in the Outer Moray Firth.
Commentators have identified the marine mammals as Minke Whales, which are likely to be spotted from headlands and ferries, according to NatureScot.
Adults tend to reach a length of between 7-9 metres and can live for up to 50 years, the nature agency said.
How to visit the ‘whale trail’
However a large proportion of Minke whales who use the Moray Firth to feed are juvenile.
All videos and images are credited to David Larter/ SSE.
Most of the UK’s population of the cetaceans are seen in Scotland, where they’re most frequently sighted between May and October. In the Moray Firth, May and June are the best calendar months for sightings.
On social media, Beatrice wind developer SSE said: “Incredible footage of the local wildlife captured by inspection technician, David Larter, at our Beatrice offshore wind farm, off the coast of Caithness, last week”.
On his own social media, Mr Larter mentioned that his team “got a few nice surprise visitors” during a trip to Beatrice, which is an “awesome perk of working out to sea”.
Incredible footage of the local wildlife captured by inspection technician, David Later, at our @beatricewind offshore wind farm, off the coast of Caithness, last week. 🐳 pic.twitter.com/RnNGLgKXyn
— SSE Plc (@SSE) July 20, 2022
The Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm became operational in June 2019 following seven years of development and three years of construction.
According to its developers, the project is “one of the largest ever private investments in Scottish infrastructure” with capital expenditure of around £2.5bn.
Located approximately 8 miles from the Caithness coast, 84-turbine scheme provides enough wind powered electricity for up to 450,000 homes.
Beatrice is operated by SSE Renewables on behalf of a joint venture partnership between SSE Renewables (40%), Red Rock Power Limited (25%), The Renewables Infrastructure Group (17.5%) and Equitix (17.5%).
The turbines are operated and maintained from a base at Wick Harbour.
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