An increase in the number of whales around the Firth of Forth, coupled with the installation of a £100,000 underwater camera off the Isle of May has created a new tourism opportunity for the area.

With whale-watching numbers increasing rapidly over the past decade to around 200,000 people, the south of Scotland is becoming a viable alternate watching location to Japan or lceland.

The whale-watching industry on a global scale is now a multi-million pound operation while the rapid rise in the number of whales around the Isle of May over the past two years bodes well for attracting new tourism and trade. With the installation of the new underwater camera, off the coast of the Isle of May, the opportunity to observe and track marine life will be greatly improved.

The increase in whales around the area over the past two years has been attributed to various causes by marine experts. Some say that it is the rising temperatures, while others believe that the abolition of whaling or a reduction in sewage could be alternative reasons for the increase.

The new camera will be able to track whales and other marine life and will be linked to the Scottish Seabird Centre, an East Lothian research centre.

Situated off the coast of Fife, the Isle of May was used during the Second World War as a spy location for U-boat activity. In its surrounding area, over 60 sightings of whales and dolphins have already been reported this year, including a rare sighting of a humpback whale alongside other whale species including pilot, sperm and minke.

The significant rise in marine activity, alongside the new underwater camera and increase in the popularity of whale-watching, has been widely greeted locally as a potentially huge asset to southern Scotland’s future tourism industry. Details: www.fifenow.co.uk