Moray Firth's sunburned dolphin returns from Ireland

Spirtle, who has a distinctive white scar from a severe sunburn, was spotted in the Moray Firth on Tuesday

A dolphin that surprised scientists by travelling hundreds of miles to Ireland's south west coast has returned to her home territory in Scotland.

Known to conservationists as Spirtle, she is one of a group of bottlenose dolphins that feeds and raises young in the Moray and Cromarty firths.

She has a large distinctive scar from being sunburned while stranded on mudflats three years ago.

Spirtle was spotted with other members of her group on Tuesday.

The dolphin was first seen in Tralee and Brandon Bay in North Kerry in Ireland in July.

An image of Spirtle and her sunburn in 2016

Bottlenose dolphins from the Moray Firth were also spotted off the coast of the Netherlands this year.

Scientists who monitor the animals said Spirtle and the other dolphins were the first known sightings of Scotland's east coast bottlenose dolphin population outside the UK.

The researchers from Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) and the University of Aberdeen have been trying to confirm if the behaviour is new.

Spirtle was photographed back in the Moray Firth by WDC field officer Charlie Phillips.

Why Spirtle left the Moray Firth and wandered so far is still to be fully understood by scientists

A spokesman for WDC said: "Spirtle seems to have returned with her family for Christmas after a summer away living off the west coast of Ireland.

"Spirtle's mum, Porridge, was spotted initially by volunteers from Whale and Dolphin Conservation's Shorewatch team and a bigger group of around 12 dolphins, including Spirtle, was seen - large as life and looking in great shape."

He added: "2019 has been a very unusual year for this dolphin population's movements around the UK and overseas to the Dutch coast - it might not be quite finished yet."