A Highland community has complained to the European Commission that the Scottish government is failing to take responsibility for protecting a colony of dolphins.
Local residents say that the future of Europe’s most northerly bottlenose dolphin colony is uncertain because of plans for ship-to-ship crude oil transfers in the Cromarty Firth. Cromarty Rising, a protest group opposing the local port authority’s plan, say the government has neglected its legal duty to take responsibility for the protected species.
The Cromarty Firth is home to three other protected species: minke whales, harbour porpoise and otters.
Yesterday the protest group submitted a formal complaint to the European Commission about an alleged breach of European law. Arthur Bird, a spokesman for the group, said that Nicola Sturgeon’s failure to