It has been a great summer for dolphins in the Tay, with large numbers of the mammals seen swimming in the river.
Bottlenosed dolphins have always frolicked in the waters around Courier Country, but this year has been spectacular.
David Kett, of pleasure cruise charity Taymara who run dolphin watching trips in the Tay, said: “They’ve been seen as far up as Perth recently, but the best place to see them is Broughty Ferry, and the best way to see them is by boat.
“A key precaution is to stand off, and let the dolphins come to you. They seem to have a fascination with boats, and particularly interested in the people on the boats.
“They are less active if you catch them at feeding time, but you can watch them feed,” he said.
“At other times they will frolick, jump and dive, or follow the bow wave of the boat.”
The installation of the waste water treatment plant at Hatton near Carnoustie was a key boost for marine life in the Tay.
Raw sewage is no longer poured into the river, making it cleaner and more habitable for marine life.
The dolphins originate in the sheltered Moray Firth north of Aberdeen and come down to the Tay to eat salmon, sea trout and jellyfish.
Mr Kett said: “The waste water treatment plant was a turning point, and a major factor in attracting dolphins into the Tay.
“Currently there are 30 to 50 individual dolphins in the Tay, and sometimes calves, so we know they are breeding here too.”
Scottish bottlenosed dolphins are the largest in the world which helps them to cope with the chilly waters of the North Sea.
Experts recommend the best times to see dolphins are in the evening, or at high tide when they tend to follow shoals of fish upstream.
The engines of boats can scare them, and they can be hurt by fast moving vessels or propellers.
Being in the Firth of Tay, from Broughty Ferry or Tayport on the south shore out to sea, is the best place to see the animals.