All language subtitles for BBC.Highlands.Scotlands.Wild.Heart.4of4.Highlanders.720p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

Scoured by ice,

and weathered by storms.

20,000 square miles
of rugged coastline,

lochs and mountains.

On the face of it, it looks bleak
and lifeless,

but wildlife is thriving
in this unforgiving place

if you know where to look.

The seasons may be harsh...

..and the opportunities fleeting...

..but animals and people have found
ways to succeed here,

turning adversity into advantage.

This is Scotland's wild heart.

The Highlands.

Wild animals and people have always
lived side by side in the Highlands.

Sharing the same landscape,

and experiencing the same seasons.

But over the years,
humans have shaped this place,

stamping their authority
on the landscape...

FIREWORKS EXPLODE

They're good, they're
like flowers.

..and dominating their
wild neighbours.

The Highlands may look like 20,000
square miles of pure wilderness...

..but for millennia,
people have left their mark

on these mountains and valleys.

The natural forest
which once covered this landscape

was cleared for farmland
and felled for timber,

while grazing by livestock and deer

prevented young trees
from growing back.

And while some species flourished,

others were driven to extinction
by habitat loss and overhunting.

But now the balance is changing,

and people have started to realise
just how much we need to put back.

Never before have the modern
Highlands seen so much work

being done to repair
the damage of the past.

One bird more than any other
sums up the changing relationship

between people and the
Highland landscape.

The osprey.

This is the Trossachs National Park
in the Southern Highlands.

Lush forest, rugged mountains
and excellent fishing

make this some of the best
osprey habitat in Scotland.

Several breeding pairs have
successfully set up home here.

There's a nest just up here.

Conservation manager Dave Anderson
and his colleague Simon Smith

know every detail of the lives
of the ospreys that live here.

Today, they're visiting a nest
as part of a continuing study.

I'll carry everything, then,
shall I? Yeah. Come on.

I work for the Forestry Commission,
and within our land holdings,

we have a huge range of species.

A lot of different birds of prey,
and the osprey being one of them.

And the general public rely on us to
protect the wildlife that's in here.

Simon's an experienced climber,
and he needs to be -

it's 50 feet to the top.

The parent birds are aware
of his presence,

and have already taken to the wing.

Sounds like she's pleased to see us!

To the parent birds,
Simon is a potential predator.

OSPREYS CALL

They call to their chicks
to lie flat,

camouflaging themselves in the nest.

Ospreys nest typically right
in the very crown of the tree,

and these birds are cryptically
coloured, so that any predator -

a big eagle flying over the top
of them - would look down,

and they don't actually think that
there's anything on the nest.

Dave and Simon visit the nests
every year.

The chicks are given a thorough
check-up, and will be weighed,

measured and ringed.

The process provides invaluable
data on the development

and movement of the osprey
population in these forests.

Ospreys are a really great
conservation story.

They've gone from strength
to strength,

and now we're probably
looking at a population

across the UK of nearly 300 pairs.

These ospreys, when they leave here,
they're going to go back to

the West Coast of Africa or Portugal
or Spain to overwinter,

and they'll do that for two years
before returning back to the UK.

Hopefully, they'll end up
back in Scotland -

that's where I'd like to see them,
anyway.

The population around this area's
doing really well.

It's an extraordinary
comeback story.

At the turn of the century,
the osprey was virtually extinct

as a breeding bird in Scotland -

wiped out by egg collectors
and hunters.

But in the 1950s, after an absence
of nearly 40 years,

the osprey came back.

It all started in a forest
near Aviemore,

120 miles north of the Trossachs.

In 1954, a pair of Scandinavian
birds appeared, and bred

at Loch Garten, which is now
an RSPB reserve.

But the nest was repeatedly
raided by egg collectors.

In response, the RSPB rolled out
Operation Osprey,

which became its
most powerful weapon

in the battle to protect
these birds.

At its heart was a
revolutionary concept

that's now fundamental
to modern conservation -

the idea of public engagement.

Jennifer Clark is the RSPB
information officer at Loch Garten.

When they first bred,
rather than keeping it a secret,

we decided that it would be better
to tell the public about this,

and to invite them to come and see
these birds, with the idea that

if we told the public about what
was happening to them,

and people came to see the birds,
that people would be on the side

of the birds and not the side of the
egg collectors, and just to change

people's opinions and ideas on
how we treat nature, and it works.

If you speak to any children now
about egg collecting,

they don't know what it is.

Do you want to have a guess?

What do you think happened when
those first ospreys came back?

The dedication of people like
Jennifer is inspiring visitors

who come to the reserve.

Do you think they hatched
into chicks?

It's all about showing people
wildlife, nature,

showing them their ospreys,
educating them about what we do here

on the reserve and the wider work
that RSPB does.

So, it's an educational platform
and a great way to gain support.

It's this public engagement that has
helped to protect the osprey,

allowing it to expand its range
across the Highlands and beyond.

I love wildlife, I love nature,
but the story of the ospreys

is gripping the whole history
of this place.

The brilliant thing about ospreys
is they came back on their own -

we didn't bring them back,
they just turned up,

and when they did, we protected
what was there,

and to say that we've got
300 breeding pairs

across the country now is fantastic.

And last year, which was
the 60th anniversary

of ospreys returning to Scotland,

we had their 100th chick fledge
from the Loch Garten nest,

so that's a nice success story
in conservation.

The osprey's comeback is
an extraordinary tale,

and the Highlands are full
of stories like this.

Stories of survival...

..and stories of change.

Generation after generation of
families have lived and worked here.

And like the wildlife, people, too,
have learned to endure the seasons.

Towering above the town of Aviemore
are the high tops of the Cairngorms.

A little piece of the Arctic
in the Highlands of Scotland.

Here only species adapted to
sub-zero conditions can survive.

This is the coldest place
in Britain,

where temperatures can fall
as low as minus 27 degrees.

Fiona Smith and her colleague
Abigail

are trekking up the mountainside
in search of a herd of animals

perfectly adapted to this life
in the freezer.

SHE CALLS: Come! Now!

They're reindeer - the only
free-ranging herd in Britain.

SHE CALLS: Come! Now!

The Cairngorms is the only habitat
in Britain

that reindeer can live naturally,

because of its vegetation
that grows,

because of the climate we get here.

It gets the Arctic and
sub-Arctic ecosystem,

and that is where reindeer thrive.

It's where they live,
it's where they come from.

The 150-strong herd do get
a helping hand, and extra food,

from the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre,
owned and run by Fiona's family.

To have such a tame animal
in such a wild environment,

I think is really special,
and they're super-friendly

and super-greedy, and yeah,
they're just a delight to be around.

I couldn't see myself in a city,
stuck in an office, that's for sure.

I mean, it gets you out and about,
which is obviously nice.

Working with the reindeer, you know,
they're a great animal to work with,

and I think it's something about
working in their environment

with such tame animals.

There's not many opportunities
you could do that.

So, yeah. No, it's pretty special.

Reindeer became extinct in Britain
at the end of the last ice age.

But then in 1952, a herd was
reintroduced from Scandinavia.

Since then, these iconic animals
have been thriving.

In the late 1980s, Fiona's parents,
Tilly and Alan, bought the herd,

and took on its management.

When I came up to work
with the reindeer,

I felt I had found my place.

I had a passion for deer,
which I got from my own father.

I did a degree in zoology, and I
knew about the reindeer in Scotland.

So, I came to work here
as a volunteer in 1981.

The reindeer were endearing,
the mountains were fantastic,

and the keeper wasn't bad looking,
so we got married!

I think they are certainly in
harmony with the environment.

They're living and browsing
on the natural vegetation

that is growing here.

But we have a role as well here.

We have to be sensible about the
numbers of reindeer that we

actually have on the ground.

And so we do control the breeding,
we do make sure we keep our numbers

that are sustainable to the
environment they're living in.

Businesses like Tilly and Fiona's
depend on tourism.

Nature-based tourism brings in
£1.4 billion a year

to the Scottish economy.

We are a tourist attraction, because
you need an income for anything,

and the tourism brings that
income to the herd.

We run an adoption scheme,
so people adopt the reindeer.

It becomes quite a sort of
close-knit community of people

that are just reindeer enthusiasts.

Without a doubt, I belong
here in the Highlands,

because of the reindeer.

For me, they provide me
with all my joy.

They are just lovely animals
to be amongst.

They come and they go.

The next descendants come through,
and become those characters.

And knowing an animal personally in
such a beautiful, wild environment

is an honour, I would say.

4,000 feet below the
reindeer's icy world,

the great Caledonian pine forest

is cloaked in the first snowfall
of the year.

Although winter can be
tough on wildlife,

the season can be the most beautiful
of the Highland year.

For photographer Neil McIntyre, it's
the perfect opportunity to capture

the ways in which wildlife copes
with the extreme conditions.

Photographing in the Highlands is...
It's a big part of me, you know.

It's my way of communicating
with the things I see,

and with other people.

You know, it really all revolves
round the picture taken.

You take a picture - don't take
what you see, take what you feel,

and I think if you put
that principle in it,

it does tell in the pictures.

You know, it's not just about
one little still image -

it goes far beyond that, and it
gives you a connection to wildlife,

there's no doubt about that.
For me it does, anyway.

Neil has lived on the edge of the
Cairngorms National Park

all his life.

My father was a gamekeeper, and he
got a job up in the Highlands here,

and moved here when I was
just a young boy.

That was how I really got into it.

I'm not somebody that can, sadly,
write particularly well, you know,

for telling stories
and things like that,

so I've seen photography as a means
for me to communicate

to other people

what I was seeing, and how special
some of these things were.

As well being a successful
wildlife photographer,

Neil shares his passion for this
corner of the Highlands

with visitors who come here
on photographic safaris.

The Highlands has always been
a bit of a mecca

for a lot of outdoor people.

Traditionally, it's been the
hunting, shooting, fishing people

that have come to the Highlands

to do these very things,
and that will continue.

But without a shadow of a doubt,
over the last decade probably,

there's been quite a considerable
increase in the amount of people

wanting to do similar things,
but shoot it with a camera

instead of, obviously, shooting it
with a rifle or a gun.

So, there's no reason both these
things can't work together.

You get nice soft backlight in here
in the morning, you know.

Cos it sort of filters
through the trees -

it's not too harsh, it's quite nice.

I like to focus on
individual species,

and spend as much time I can
with them.

Particularly things like the red
squirrels and crested tits,

for example, are the two ones I
probably spend the most time with.

The thing about a photograph -
you're capturing a moment in time -

and then you can do that,
and then the animal or bird

just goes about its daily business
again,

and it's as if you've
never been there.

With one word - it's magic,
it's a magic place.

It has an aura about it that
very few places have.

It's got the wildlife, it's got the
mountains, the lochs, the glens,

and the light you get
is second to none.

There's hardly a day, certainly
when I'm outside, that you don't

look around you and think, you know,
"I'm a very lucky, lucky fellow."

BIRD SINGS

The Caledonian Pine Forest at the
heart of the National Park

is Scotland's most iconic
woodland wilderness.

6,000 years ago, these forests
covered nearly 6,000 square miles,

and formed a vast band
of northern forest

that stretched across three
continents.

The Romans called it
the Great Wood of Caledon.

Rich in Scots pine, birch,
oak and rowan trees,

this forest was a special
place for wildlife.

But over the last 2,000 years,
these woods were decimated.

Today, perhaps just 1%
of the ancient forest remains.

Dr David Hetherington is
a National Park ecologist,

and has a special interest in the
restoration of these woodlands.

At around 4,500 square kilometres,
the Cairngorms National Park

is one of the largest national parks
in the whole of Europe.

We have some really special
fragments,

remnants left of Caledonian Forest
which are really quite distinctive

of this part of Scotland.

But it's important to say that this
is not some uninhabited wilderness.

The Cairngorms National Park is home
to 18,000 people who live here,

and who work here.

A familiar cast of characters
can still be found

in these ancient woodlands.

But deep in the undergrowth
lives an equally important

set of animals, the keystone
species of this forest micro world.

Never seen so many.

Hayley Wiswell is an ecologist

for the Cairngorms National Park
Authority.

They're all very dark.

She introduces groups of
naturalists, rangers and foresters

to the miniature world
of the forest floor.

Invertebrates are absolutely
vital for the health of the forest,

because of the variety of roles
that they play.

Whether they're food for the
small birds or mammals,

or whether they're decomposing
dead wood,

breaking it down and turning it into
nutrients that the forest can use.

So, they're extraordinarily
important.

This enormous nest is home
to Hayley's favourite species -

the Scottish wood ant.

These bustling ant cities
can be six feet wide.

Their presence
indicates a healthy forest.

The wood ants themselves are kind
of a keystone species, if you like.

Not only are they nurturing
aphid colonies in the trees,

which reduce the capacity of
the tree to grow leaves,

but they also do other things,
like, they disperse seeds.

So some plants in the pine forest
produce seeds that are only

dispersed by ants.

And then the wood ant colony itself,
the actual nest, is home to species

of invertebrates that are only
found in wood ant nests -

they're not found anywhere else.

They're helping the trees to grow,
they're helping plants to grow,

they're supporting all these
other organisms.

I think the forest would be...

It would be a different place
without them.

You might have dozens of nests
in a hectare of forest.

So that's millions and millions
of ants running around.

So, in terms of sheer biomass,

they're...yeah, definitely
the apex predator

of the Caledonian pine forests.

Centuries ago, apex predators
of a very different kind

roamed these forests.

The ancient people here shared
their woodland home with lynx,

bears and wolves.

Eventually, we hunted these animals
to extinction.

But one predator has managed
to hang on.

The Scottish wildcat.

What it lacks in size,
it makes up for in ferocity.

Nicknamed the Highland Tiger,

this cat is even more endangered
than its striped Asian cousin.

This is not a domestic cat
that has gone wild -

this is a truly wild animal
that moved in here shortly after

the glaciers left Britain.

Unfortunately, it really is
in trouble.

Its range has contracted massively

from once having covered
the whole of Britain,

to just parts of the Scottish
Highlands.

But the real problem
that the wildcat faces

is because it's quite closely
related genetically

to the domestic cat,

it can actually interbreed
and produce fertile hybrids.

And this is a real problem, because
with each passing generation,

the wildcat is becoming
more and more diluted,

and less and less distinctive
of that native animal

that we've had for so, so long
in Scotland.

A coordinated conservation effort
has set up

Scottish Wildcat Action.

It's the first national effort
to protect the cats in the wild,

and has established a conservation
breeding programme.

Douglas Richardson is
head of Living Collections

at the Highland Wildlife Park.

I firmly believe that a healthy
captive population

of Scottish wildcats
in high quality environments

will be crucial to the survival
of the species.

At the very least, that safety net
role that they play.

Someone alluded to...
captive breeding programmes

are like lifeboats
on an ocean liner.

You hope you never have to use one,

but it's nice to know
that they're there.

Captive-bred wildcats
like 11-year-old Hamish

are being exchanged between parks
to mate

with genetically strong females
to secure the future bloodline.

Today, Hamish is being loaned to the
Aigas Field Centre near Inverness,

in the hope that he'll breed
with one of their female wildcats.

Hello, what's all this?

What's this?

He's quite a character,
he's not at all dangerous.

Though, saying that, I wouldn't want
him to land on the top of my head.

He's very good with females, and
he's excellent with his offspring.

I've actually seen him carrying and
cleaning his kittens on occasion.

If Hamish and his female companions
are successful,

their descendants may eventually be
released back into the Highlands,

but only into protected areas.

I want to get that captive
programme to a level that,

if it all goes belly-up as far as
the wild population is concerned,

we still have that cushion.

It's not just about captive breeding
in some of these facilities -

it's about education
and raising awareness -

making people aware that we have
this fantastic animal

living in the wild here in Scotland,
and it does need our help.

If animals like the wildcat are to
successfully re-establish themselves

in the Highlands, it's critical
there's enough habitat

for them to live in.

Their original home
in the Caledonian Forest

is only just recovering

from centuries of exploitation
and neglect.

It's really in the last few
decades we've begun to realise

that these old forest remnants,
that are a link back

to the end of the ice age,
need our help,

and that there's been some fantastic
work done to try and expand

those forests and save them
from any further damage.

And here in the Cairngorms
National Park,

we see a whole variety
of different projects,

where the native woodland is coming
back and really quite spectacularly.

Old fragments are beginning to join
up with one another - the woodlands

are gradually moving up the hill
through natural regeneration.

So a fantastic area for the kind of
landscape-scale forest restoration.

On the edge of Abernethy Forest,

Desmond Dugan is helping the forest
regenerate naturally,

using sensitive and low-impact
methods of replanting.

In recent years, the pine forest
has been receding down the hill

because of man's management.

Man has converted some of the
woodlands here to heather moor,

perhaps for grouse shooting
or for sheep ranching,

so the forest has been lost,
and we here at RSPB Abernethy

are trying to encourage the
re-colonisation of the forest,

and we're trying to do that
mostly by natural processes.

To further assist the growth
and diversity of the forest,

Desmond and his colleague
Alison Greggans are sowing the seeds

of native species like the alder.

This was all collected last autumn.

It's been in the cold store
between two and four degrees

to keep it cool, to stop it
germinating.

We're now sowing some of the seed
into the river -

directly into the river here,
in this little stream here.

And we're also scuffing some of the
seed into the riverside gravel,

because alder is water-distributed.

The seed falls into the river, it's
washed downstream, and gets lodged

in little nooks and crannies,
downstream.

Getting more forest is not just
about creating a habit for wildlife.

We want to create a managed
environment here

so that people can come and enjoy.

Whether you enjoy just

a quiet day's bird-watching
or visiting the osprey centre,

or perhaps botanising,

or doing whatever you enjoy
in the natural landscape.

It's very satisfying to walk
through the forest,

because some of the trees
are as old as 400 years old,

and you can put your hand on the
tree and make a wish for the future,

for your family or whatever - it's
really quite a humbling experience.

To feel the past - to walk through
the forest is to feel the past.

Thanks to people like Desmond,

the forest has a chance
to flourish again.

It's because of this kind of habitat
restoration that real progress

is being made in re-introducing
endangered species.

We have a whole range of species
now that we just didn't have

100 years ago - we'd lost them,
they'd become extinct.

Red squirrels were found in only
one or two pockets of woodland

here in the Cairngorms,
and in other parts of the Highlands,

had to be reintroduced
from elsewhere.

The capercaillie had actually
gone extinct in Scotland,

and was reintroduced by private
estates in the 19th century.

We've seen the re-introduction
of other birds of prey,

such as the red kite.

So there's some real
conservation successes,

and I'm sure many of these
will continue in the future.

KITE CALLS

Red kites are a soaring symbol
of hope in the Highlands.

Once persecuted to extinction here,

the birds were reintroduced
from Europe in the 1990s,

after an absence of nearly
120 years.

Dave Anderson is monitoring
this new breeding population

in the Trossachs.

The birds that we're monitoring here
in Central Scotland were put back

in '96, and the population now
is between 75 and 80 pairs.

KITE CALLS

Close to the nesting sites,
Argaty Farm's feeding station

provides extra benefits
for red kites...

and people.

Red kites need as much help
as they can

when they're first introduced
to an area,

and I think that these
feeding stations

offer not only a little bit
of support,

particularly in the wintertime,
for red kites,

but it also gives people an
opportunity to bond with these birds

that have been introduced
into their area.

The Argaty lunchtime acrobatics
are guaranteed to impress.

These spectacular birds of prey
turn up in big numbers

for the free hand-outs.

CROW CALLS

Other birds of prey like buzzards

are no match for this kind of
aerial bombardment.

The kites swoop in, grab the food,
and fly away with it.

They're not really wanting
to be standing, walking about,

because they do get mobbed, not just
by the crows and by the buzzards,

but by their own kind,

cos they're always stealing
off each other.

Wildlife has come in there
to obviously get a free meal,

and people can go there
and enjoy it,

and it's quite a spectacle
in the wintertime,

when you have 50, 60, 70 red kites

wheeling over the tops of people.

These are people who don't get
the opportunities

that people like myself get
to go into nests,

and I think it's really important
that they get that opportunity.

Otherwise why would they even bother
thinking about protecting them?

Re-wilding is one of these words
that some people might not like.

But we've sanitised
quite a lot of the Highlands,

and I think it's really important
to get back to re-wilding the land,

and that might mean putting animals
back in here that have been missing

for a long time, and birds.

And the red kite was missing
for a long, long time,

and it's great to see it back.

But there are some people
whose plans for re-wilding

are much more radical.

70 miles north of the Cairngorms,

philanthropist Paul Lister
has begun a re-wilding project,

restoring lost
plant and animal species

at his Alladale Wilderness Reserve.

Well, we've been used to hundreds
of years of a sterile landscape,

like a dead zone, for, you know,
since the last 1,000 years -

since the Norman Conquest.

You know, we've been, sort of,
sanitising our landscape,

and so it's very difficult for
people to understand where we're at.

You know, visitors, tourists
come to Scotland

and see these wonderful hills -

open hills, treeless hills -
and they think that's normal.

Over the centuries, we've slowly
taken it all apart,

until now we're just left
with fragments of old forest.

In fact, there's only 1% left.

That's not much of a legacy,
is it, to leave behind?

Paul wants to bring large carnivores
back to Scotland.

He, and others, believe that nature
needs top predators like wolves

and bears
to help balance out the ecosystem.

This will give vegetation
a chance to recover

from overgrazing by deer,
benefiting all wildlife.

He also believes these animals
will benefit

the people of the Highlands
through eco-tourism.

I think that there's a bigger
picture we're missing here -

to be able to bring back wolves
and bears and create more revenue,

more job opportunities,
and really see the place come alive,

and that's really what I hope for.

I mean, look at the fantastic woods
behind us here.

Hundreds of years ago, there would
have been wolves and bears in here.

And it's just a shame, that, to me -
as magnificent as they look,

it's kind of like a dead zone.

We've got to move forward,
we've got to see some change,

and we've got to progress.

Life is not about the past,
it's about the future,

and we need to build a new future,
a new consciousness,

a new way of treating the landscape.

Biologically, you know,
lynx and wolves and bears,

and some of these other large
mammal species

could easily live in Scotland.

You know, the biological conditions
are there.

The biological conditions will
probably improve with time,

as we get more woodland cover, etc.

So, yes, these large mammals
could definitely live here.

But, of course, the crucial factor
is not the biology,

it's the human environment.

Are humans prepared to live
alongside animals,

which, undoubtedly beautiful
and charismatic as they are,

and undoubtedly could be part
of a wildlife tourism initiative -

but they will have impacts,

and sometimes they will
create problems -

are we prepared to live
alongside them?

And it's only really the people of
Scotland who can make that decision.

40 miles north-west of Alladale,
the Highlands meet the Atlantic.

Here lie many of the great
sea bird colonies

that have made the Highlands
world-famous.

Tens of thousands of pairs of birds

come here every spring and summer
to breed.

Jostling for space
to raise a family

along the dizzying ledges
and cliff tops.

Paul Walton is Head of Habitats
and Species for the RSPB,

and these vibrant communities
are his special passion.

People can come to Scotland,
they can come to the Highlands,

they can visit these incredible
sea bird colonies, and it is,

to my mind, every bit as spectacular

as a visit to the Serengeti
in Africa.

It really is one of the world's
greatest wildlife spectacles.

Of all the birds that inhabit these
extraordinary sea bird cities,

the guillemot is Paul's favourite.

Over 30,000 of these birds annually
crowd the cliff ledges to breed.

One of largest concentrations
of guillemots in Europe.

It's hard to imagine a more
precarious place to raise a family.

Sea birds are important
indicators of change

in the health of this marine world.

But despite their apparent abundance
here, numbers are in decline.

The cause seems to link directly
to climate change.

Sea birds are actually the end
of a marine food chain,

and it seems to be that in recent
decades, that food chain

has been undergoing some
really quite profound changes.

Warm water plankton species,
which aren't as rich in nutrients,

are taking over from
the Arctic plankton species,

which were traditionally the
food of the sand eels

and other fish which the
sea birds eat.

And also we're seeing an overall
reduction in the abundance

of that plankton that the fish eat.

And this seems to be having knock-on
effects up the food chain.

You look out there at the ocean,
and people tend to think, you know,

that's genuinely a wilderness,
that's wild out there -

it's the last frontier.

But there is absolutely no doubt
that human activity is having

a profound effect on the
marine environment,

and on the wildlife
that depends on it.

So, they're facing multiple
pressures, and those pressures

are really beginning to show now,
and have effects

on our sea bird populations,
and driving them into decline,

and this is a global issue.

But while climate change remains
an international problem,

there are local success stories
for colonies like these in Scotland.

One area that proves that people
can really make a difference

is in the idea of
marine protected areas.

Now, we have protected areas on
land, and we have done for decades.

In the marine environment,
it's been much slower.

But we're making real progress now.

It remains to be seen how well
they'll be managed -

that's a challenge for us all -

but it was public pressure that
brought about this critical change,

and it is real progress.

Scotland has 30
marine protected areas,

supporting an abundance of wildlife.

With over 20 different
whale and dolphin species,

the Highland coastline provides
a rich habitat for cetaceans.

90 miles east of the
sea bird colonies

lies a great funnel-shaped estuary
called the Moray Firth.

WDC - Whale and Dolphin
Conservation - are based here,

and run a programme
called Shorewatch.

They work with 23
coastal communities,

aiming to engage them in protecting
the marine environment.

Katie Dyke
is their conservation officer.

We work with local communities,
and we encourage them,

and engage with volunteers to look
for whales and dolphins for us.

As you're scanning, you're just
looking for splashes,

feeding birds,
any break in the water,

any discontinuity in the water
that you might think,

"Ooh, there's something there."
Yeah.

We analyse all this data
so that we can better understand

the movements of whales and dolphins
around the Scottish coastline,

and then we can use that to advise
governments and developers

on how to protect the cetaceans
that we have around Scotland.

Scotland actually has a really
rich marine wildlife,

and a huge abundance of different
marine mammals, and it probably

doesn't spring to mind to a lot of
people, because I think when people

look at whales and dolphins,

they see tropical climates
and warm waters,

and they think that's where they're
going to see whales and dolphins,

where actually, Scotland is one of
the best places to see whales

and dolphins, particularly
from the shoreline.

These coastal waters are regularly
visited by a resident population

of almost 200 bottlenose dolphins.

We've actually got the world's
biggest bottlenose dolphin -

they're the most northern
bottlenose dolphin of the world,

and basically they're the biggest,
so, they're four metres long -

they're absolutely huge.

They're, kind of, relatives
across the world,

so you've got bottlenose dolphin
in California and Australia,

and they're only about
two metres long.

So, our bottlenose dolphin
are double the size.

Basically, they're kind of the
fattest in the world, I think.

You know, they've got
a lot of food around here.

They've got a lot of fatty fish
to eat, they've got salmon,

and they basically have to stay
nice and warm in this weather,

so they've got an extra layer
of blubber.

This is a very special group
of bottlenose dolphins -

the only surviving population
in the North Sea.

They live on the very edge -

isolated and vulnerable.

And they share their home
with people,

living alongside oil rigs,
boats and busy harbours.

It's a world that's become noisier

and more polluted
over the last century.

But they're holding on,

and each year they provide
thousands of visitors

with an unforgettable
wildlife-watching experience.

No-one knows the Moray Firth
dolphins

better than Charlie Philips.

Like Katie, he's a field officer
for WDC.

Charlie is cataloguing
the unique markings

on each animal's dorsal fin.

CAMERA CLICKS

It means that we can keep tabs
on what the population's doing

just through the power
of photography.

We don't need to try and stick
transmitters or markers

on individual dolphins,

because they already have individual
markings on their dorsal fins,

caused naturally by themselves.

Charlie's got to know
the pod so well,

he's given names to many of
the individual dolphins.

When you're involved in studying
them for any length of time,

you don't only begin to recognise
them as individuals,

but recognise them as individual
characters, too.

They're amazing.

I've spent 20 years watching
and studying them

and photographing them and filming
them, and every day is different.

There's no two days the same.

Charlie's favourite spot
is Chanonry Point.

A shingle spit sticking
straight out into the Moray Firth.

When the Atlantic salmon
begin their spawning runs,

the dolphins gather here
on a rising tide.

If you time it right,
you can enjoy one of Scotland's

most extraordinary
wildlife spectacles.

The bottlenose dolphins have
figured out a method of hunting,

where if they wait for an incoming
tide, as the tide rushes past the

tip of this peninsula, it creates
tremendous whirlpools and eddies,

and the migratory salmon coming
through this area seem to congregate

in one narrow spot,
and the dolphins

basically wait on this
tidal current,

almost like a supermarket conveyor
belt bringing the food towards them.

Every now and again,

a dolphin will take a fish that it's
not quite comfortable swallowing.

So, what it's got to do is, it's
got to physically regurgitate it,

and then re-swallow it.

It can sometimes take a dolphin
45 minutes,

50 minutes to swallow a really
large fish, but it's worth it,

because that huge packet
of protein and nutrition -

it's worth spending the time
putting that down your stomach,

because you don't know where you're
going to get the next one from.

People won't protect
what they don't understand,

and they won't watch what they don't
know is there, and it's a really

unique opportunity that people have
that live around this local area,

that there's dolphins on your
doorstep, and you can go outside

and stand on the shoreline and
watch these remarkable creatures.

The people of the Highlands
are rediscovering

their connection to wildlife...

Anything feeding underneath them...

..proving that public engagement
and positive action can,

and does, make a real difference.

This is the eagle
picking up the fish.

If we can grab children's
attention now, and get them excited

about nature now, then hopefully
that will stay with them,

and it'll stay with them
into adulthood,

and they are the people who are
going to be looking after this

in 20, 30 years' time, so we really
want to grab their attention now.

We see the Highlands as
a bit of a unique area

within the whole of the UK.

It's seen as a wild place,
and it is still a wild place,

and I really like
being a part of it.

And I'm not sick of it yet,
and I hope I never will be.

The Highlands - for me, it's home,
it's where my ancestors come from.

It's a beautiful part of the world,
it's got some fantastic nature,

but for me as an ecologist,
I feel there's a job to be done.

You know, we've got to repair
some of the damage to make this

an even better place for future
generations to live.

The Highlands to me means freedom.

It means getting out there,
in a clean place,

that's still got areas where you
won't see another living soul

from morning to night.

But there's also pristine
environments that we can enjoy, too.

If we do it carefully,
then hopefully

those pristine environments will
still be pristine in years to come.

It's a place that I'd never,
ever want to leave.

The Highlands have inspired people
for generations.

But keeping them wild and diverse
is our responsibility.

Rebuilding a strong natural
environment will benefit everyone.

If we can learn to respect and take
responsibility for this place,

then the Highlands have every chance
of staying wild and wonderful

for people and for animals.