Travelling by improvised, motorised ‘dugout’ we managed to assault several sandbanks on the way up the Firth from the layby just below Redcastle (where there is boat moored currently Aug 2023).

There are a few seals left – maybe 20 – on the river bank right where it meets the sea, but far fewer than back in the day when you could see them on the sand banks from the main road going into Inverness.