Marine Mammal

Overlooking the Holy Loch, Grahams Point Heritage Park is a green space with a children's play area, a monk's hut and a monument to James Duncan, the owner and improver of the Benmore estate. The small beach on the edge of the park is habitat for many different sea birds, including oystercatchers, eider ducks, mallards, herons, curlew, gulls, redshank and sandpipers. The diverse marine life in the loch includes fish such as cod, haddock, mackerel, saithe, salmon and sea trout. You may also see grey seals, harbour porpoises, bottlenose dolphins and otters.

West Bay sits at the intersection between the built and natural environments. The wide promenade, built in the 1880s to replace a narrow rocky beach path, makes West Bay easily accessible to walkers, wheelchair users and cyclists.

Otters have been spotted feeding in the rocky shallows at East Bay in Dunoon. Members of Cowal Wildlife Group have also recorded photos of waterbirds such as curlews, goldeneye and oystercatchers, and fish including butterfish in the rockpool habitats. 

Around 12 miles north of Dunoon, Ardentinny beach is on the shores of Loch Long. It has the longest sandy beach in Cowal and lies in part of the Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park. Buzzards, oystercatchers, grey herons, common seal and porpoise, there's plenty of wildlife to see from the beach and in the nearby woodland.