I should also tell you about the award we won from the Charity Commission last year – for our work in education. Although it’s not meant an enormous amount of money for us, it has made our activities even more widely publicised and understood. In the long term it may not bring in extra members but we’re hoping it’ll have this effect.

INTERVIEWER: Is it possible to see dolphins in UK waters?

ALICE: Yes. In several locations. And we have a big project in the east part of Scotland. This has long been a haven for dolphins because it has very little shipping. However, that may be about to change soon because oil companies want to increase exploration there. We’re campaigning against this because, although there’ll be little pollution from oil, exploration creates a lot of underwater noise. It means the dolphins can’t rest and socialise.

This is how I became interested in dolphin conservation in the first place. I had never seen one and I hadn’t been particularly interested in them at school. Then I came across this story about a family of dolphins who had to leave their home in the Moray Firth because of the oil companies and about a child who campaigned to save them. I couldn’t put the book down – I was hooked.