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Members of the public are invited to take part in dolphin, whale and porpoise surveys around the UK as part of the 12th National Whale and Dolphin Watch. The data collected during the event will help in developing a snapshot of the distribution of dolphins, whales and porpoises around the UK. This is an opportunity for everyone to become involved in the research which goes into understanding and protecting these magnificent creatures.

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The unusual sight of a large group of bottlenose dolphins near the Isle of Man this week may be further evidence that they are shifting their summer range northwards, says the marine conservation charity Sea Watch Foundation.

The Manx Whale & Dolphin Watch not only reported around 10 bottlenose dolphins in the north eastern part of the Isle of Man on May 19, but later the same day, a large group of 50-60 bottlenose dolphins, including young calves, off the eastern part of the Island.

Both organisations are calling for members of the public to send in photographs to photo@seawatchfoundation.org.uk of bottlenose dolphins off the Isle of Man or off the north east coast of England and the Galloway coast in the northeast Irish Sea, to see whether they can be matched with any known to frequent Cardigan Bay. Photographs need to show their fins side on which are used for ID in much the same way as fingerprints in humans!

Another interesting sighting – a group of 20 bottlenose sightings off Abbey Head, Dumfries and Galloway – was also reported to Sea Watch by Regional co-ordinator, Mark Pollitt, manager of the Dumfries and Galloway Environmental Recording Centre on 20 May. Photographs are again being sought to see whether these dolphins match records either from Cardigan Bay in Wales or form Scottish populations on the west and east coast.

Daphna Feingold, Sea Watch Monitoring officer for the Cardigan Bay bottlenose dolphin Photo ID Project, says: “There were also reports of Risso’s dolphins in the Isle of Man area at the same time and of the two species swimming together. Although this is not unheard of, it is quite unusual in UK coastal waters .

“In recent years we have been noting what may be a shift in the Cardigan Bay population northwards, and we are concerned that this may be due to disturbance since recreational  boating has increased and has been shown to have a negative effect on the animals.”

Sea Watch is calling for added protection for bottlenose dolphins around the north coasts of Wales since these are being used extensively by bottlenose dolphins. Current conservation protection for the species exists in the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Pen Llŷn a’r Sarnau SAC, but not further north.

Tom Felce, Manx Whale & Dolphin Watch, says:

“There has been a clear increase in the number of sightings of bottlenose dolphins in Manx waters in the last two or three years, with sighting numbers increasing from around 15 sightings a year, to around 40 or 50 sightings a year. The majority of these sightings are in the winter months, between October and March, so a sighting of such a large group towards the end of May is particularly significant.”

Manx fisherman Danny Kermeen, who reported the initial sighting of ten individuals, has been catching lots of herring in the north of the island which may be the reason that the bottlenose dolphins are in the area at this time of year, as herring do not normally reach the north east of the island until October or November. However, since herring eat sand eels, it may also be those that are attracting the bottlenose dolphins

An account of day 3 of the Orca Watch in Caithness (by Colin Bird – SWF Regional Coordinator)

Photos: Colin Bird

The day looked like a complete none starter with rain, howling wind and thick fog at John O’ Groats. Phil Evans and myself decided to have tea and a burger and wait to see how the weather would let up. Five minutes before the watch was to start the fog lifted. So we went to Duncansby and met Helen who had joined the watch at the start, we decided because of the wind we would be best shielded from the wind by relocating on the east side of the headland instead of the North. We were then joined by Rachel and Pete who were on last years watch and had agreed to give me a picture of the Hoxa orca sighting.

At 17.50pm I received a text message from Ivor Thomas on the John O’ Groats Ferry saying he could see orca off the Ness of Duncansby. Pete and Rachel rushed back to the North side of the point to see if they could see them, they then phoned to say they had them just below the cliffs. Phil, Helen and myself grabbed our cameras, abandoned every thing else and rushed up the hill and across to the north side where Rachel was shouting “There they are!” We all snapped away with our cameras following the cliff path round the lighthouse and ended back where we had started, Phil who has a fear of heights was so excited that he never noticed the 150 foot drop to the sea that was a meter away. Everyone was overjoyed that they had seen orcas so close. We continued watching for a further 2 hours but the wind chill was just too much and we decided to call it day and pack and see what tomorrow would bring. Interestingly, this pod is the same pod that was off John O’Groats last year and Lybster in 2010.

Three days and three sightings for the watch team with sighting by the ferry and Rachel and Pete when in Orkney. It doesn’t get much better than this!

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Colin Bird’s watchers have been hard at work since Saturday, scouring the seas for a glimpse of a dorsal fin. So far, participants have spotted two orca, a group of twenty common dolphins and two groups of harbour porpoise. There is still a week to go so we are looking forward to more updates from the Caithness coastline!

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The Cardigan Bay Monitoring Project team have carried out the first line transect surveys for the 2013 research season. Groups of harbour porpoise, grey seal and bottlenose dolphin were spotted, which will help in determining the abundance and distribution of these marine mammals, and will additionally provide further information on life history strategies of our semi-resident population of bottlenose dolphins within Cardigan Bay.

On the initial survey day in the Pen Llyn a’r Sarnau Special Area of Conservation (SAC), the survey team came across a group of 28 bottlenose dolphins and included a number of juveniles, and calves.

The following survey took place in the southern SAC which stretches from Aberaeron to Cemaes Head along the Ceredigion coastline. This time, four sightings of grey seal, four sightings of harbour porpoise and two sightings of bottlenose dolphin were recorded. One group of bottlenose dolphin that were seen included a group of ten individuals, together with juveniles and calves. These shallow, sheltered waters of the Cardigan Bay SAC also provide ideal habitat for bottlenose dolphins to nurse their young, and sightings of newborns and calves will hopefully increase in this area in the coming months.

In addition to the dedicated line transect survey trips, three bottlenose dolphins were also sighted around the headland at Ynys Lochtyn in the Cardigan Bay SAC, in a trip that was organised for the Seawatch AGM. One of the bottlenose dolphins that were sighted during this trip was seen only few days ago on one of the line transect trips within the Pen Llyn a’r Sarnau SAC, and shows that some bottlenose dolphins are travelling large distances within Cardigan Bay in a short space of time. The boat trip was followed by an informative talk by Peter Evans, the director of Seawatch, on the effects of renewable energy on cetaceans within Northern Europe. Marine mammals are effected by the sounds that are produced as a result of marine renewable projects, such as wind farm construction. On a positive note, the talk highlighted that recent research has found that the use of bubble curtains around construction sites could reduce the impact of sound on marine mammals during the construction phase. Overall an enjoyable and productive week, with lots of sightings of marine mammals!

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