Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Could plans to expand Aberdeen Harbour drive dolphins away?

An computer generated image of the Nigg Bay expansion at Aberdeen harbour.
An computer generated image of the Nigg Bay expansion at Aberdeen harbour.

A group of marine scientists has claimed the expansion of Aberdeen Harbour could drive dolphins away from the area.

The expansion of the port is set to be completed by 2020, and it is hoped the project will enable Aberdeen to welcome cruise ships.

But the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) claim the noise during construction, and an increase in underwater noise due to more shipping traffic, could cause problems for the dolphin population.

Dr Denise Risch, an underwater noise researcher with SAMS, said: “With the harbour being expanded the potential is there for dolphins to be harmed by the increased noise or driven away from the area because of that.

“An increase in noise could cause dolphins to lose their hearing, this would mean they wouldn’t be able to find food or communicate with each other.

“If dolphins are exposed to an increase in noise over a sustained period studies have shown they leave an area either temporarily or more permanently.”

If dolphins were to leave the area it could pose problems for the proposed £10million science and heritage centre at Greyhope Bay.

Dr Fiona McIntyre, marine research scientist and managing director of the development, said: “It is a concern for us but with the harbour currently there is a massive amount of activity and the dolphins seem to do just fine.

“They may be deterred during the years of construction but I would expect them to still use the harbour entrance to feed after the construction.

Dolphins

“The dolphins are a big attraction in the area, and Greyhope has been branded as the dolphin watching centre but what we are trying to do is create something that has a lot more to offer than just going to spot the dolphins.”

Aberdeen Harbour Board chief executive Colin Parker last night said “appropriate actions and procedures” were being taken to protect the wellbeing of the local dolphin population.

He said: “Having reviewed all assessments of the local environment, appropriate actions and procedures have been followed in order to protect the well-being and safety of local wild dolphins.

“An extensive programme of mitigation measures have been developed to minimise impacts, including the deployment of a bubble curtain to reduce propagation of underwater noise.

“And the use of marine mammal observers and acoustic monitoring to ensure marine mammals are at a safe distance before certain works commence.”