Moray Firth fishing disaster Moray Firth fishing disaster The Moray Firth fishing disaster of August 1848 was one of the worst fishing disasters in maritime history on the east coast of Scotland, and was caused by a severe storm that struck the Moray Firth. The event led to widespread improvements to harbours and significant changes to the design of fishing boats over the remainder of the 19th century. Scottish fishing boats of the late 18th and early 19th centuries were generally small sail boats with open hulls that mainly fished close to shore. The shallow design of the boats allowed them to be launched
Firth of Clyde Common and grey seals abound in the firth. Harbour porpoises are also common and while dolphins are much less so, they have been spotted in the upper reaches of the firth in the summer of 2005. Whales do not favour the Clyde and although there have been instances of larger whales beaching themselves or becoming stranded in the upper firth, only smaller pilot or minke whales seem to visit with any kind of regularity. In 2005 the firth was listed as having the 2nd highest incidence of basking shark sightings in Scotland (after The Minch). In particular these huge sharks