Recent reports have suggested a surge in whale and dolphin sightings around the coast, which is being attributed mainly to the weather, which is fairly apt for a country obsessed by it.

According to the National Trust for Scotland’s Arran ranger service, Kilbrannan Sound and the Firth of Clyde have seen a surge in numbers of humpback and minke whales as well as common dolphins.

Further afield, in May, more than 30 orcas were spotted swimming past Caithness while in April, a walrus hauled itself ashore in Orkney before embarking on a wee coastal tour.

This means that statistically you have more chance of seeing a walrus in the seas than an on-time and in budget CalMac ferry given the state of the network.

I, of course, made that last bit up for comic effect, but the current state of the ferry network is no laughing matter for hard-pressed island communities.

Even less funny is that it is facing even longer disruption as three ferries being built in Turkey are delayed again amid spiralling costs and even the threat of bankruptcy.

CMAL placed two contracts totalling about £200m with the Cemre shipyard in Turkey in 2022 and 2023 for four large ferries for the CalMac fleet.

The first, MV Isle of Islay, was delivered in January this year, around 15 months late, and is now operating on the Kennacraig to Islay route.

The remaining three are still at the shipyard at Yalova in north-west Turkey. MV Loch Indaal was originally due in October 2024 but is now not expected until October 2026, a two-year delay.

MV Lochmor, originally due in early 2025, is now expected in the first quarter of 2027, while MV Claymore is not expected until the second quarter of 2027.

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Ministers have now........

© Herald Scotland