Information and Fact Sheets
28 species of whale, dolphin and porpoise have been recorded in British and Irish waters. More information on individual species can be found on the fact sheets:
- Northern Right Whale
- Humpback Whale
- Fin Whale
- Sei Whale
- Minke Whale
- Sperm Whale
- Northern Bottlenose Whale
- Killer Whale
- Long-finned Pilot Whale
- Risso's Dolphin
- Atlantic White Sided Dolphin
- White Beaked Dolphin
- Short Beaked Common Dolphin
- Striped Dolphin
- Bottlenose Dolphin
- Harbour Porpoise
Each year, cetaceans face depletion in their numbers and possible local extinction due to the continuous threats to their habitat such as capture and drowning in fishing gear, marine pollution and over-fishing.
For more information on these issues, please download our fact sheet:
More information on marine mammals is available in the following publications:
Regional Fact Sheets
These regional information sheets give local species information and show you good whale and dolphin watching locations around the UK.
Click on each region to find out more.
- Shetland
- Orkney
- Western Scotland
- Eastern Scotland
- North West England
- Eastern England
- South-West England
- South-East England
- Southern England
- Wales
- Northern Ireland
Photo ID Guidelines
For a number of species of whale and dolphin, it is possible to recognize individuals by the unique markings that some of them bear. These may take the form of a particular pattern of nicks in the dorsal fin, or pigmentation patterns on the fin, head, flippers or flanks. Recording such information on photographs (more accurate than drawings), particularly on a regular basis, allows one to learn a great deal about local populations of the species.