On Friday, one of our crews was lucky enough to encounter a small pod of dolphins. They circled the Maid as it headed west of the Queensferry Crossing, and when we stopped they came in very close to check the boat out, swimming just beyond the oars and diving under the boat. The crew – cox Maria, club captain Marianne, Barbara, Anne F and Sharon – were thrilled. More excitement was to come as the story spread across social media, thanks to Scott.
Marianne posted photos of the sighting on the Forth Marine Mammals site, where they caused quite a stir. She writes: “They seem to be common dolphins, which like most animals with that epithet are not particularly common, and certainly not this far up the Forth. We’ve had lots of praise for our spot!”
Scott made a post on the club’s new public Facebook page – along with posts on Twitter and Instagram – and the next day revealed that it had reached many thousands of people – 20, 490 at last report. Among those picking up on the story was the Edinburgh Live news site, which posted an article after contacting Scott and Marianne.
The power of social media!