Ecovolunteer nature travel: help in whale & dolphin research in Scotland. The Cetacean Research & Rescue Unit (CRRU) in Scotland is a small, non-profit research organisation dedicated to the understanding, welfare, conservation and protection of cetaceans in Scottish waters through scientific investigation, education, and the provision of professional veterinary assistance to sick, stranded and injured individuals. Since 1997, volunteers and students have assisted the group in the collection, organisation and analysis of data fundamental to the understanding and current knowledge of the distribution, ecology and natural history of whales and dolphins in the outer southern Moray Firth, in NE Scotland. Primary concentration is of an individually-identified population of bottlenose dolphins, which spend a large proportion of the year in the rich coastal waters of the southern firth, and a sub-population of minke whales, which frequent particular sites along this coastline during the summer and autumnal months. Affiliated with the UK Marine Animal Rescue Coalition (MARC) and providing training for volunteers in collaboration with British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), the CRRU operates the only 24-hour specialist rescue service for stranded whales and dolphins in the country. scotland, north sea, moray firth, cetacea, cetaceans, whales, dolphins, bottlenose dolphin, atlantic white-sided dolphin, minke whale, white-beaked dolphin, harbour porpoise, killer whale, long finned pilot whale, balaenopteridae, balaenoptera acutorostrata, delphinidae, tursiops truncatus, lagenorhynchus acutus, lagenorhynchus albirostris, phocoena phocoena, orcinus orca, globicephala melas, nature travel, ecotourism