Our thirteenth National Whale and Dolphin Watch was a great success with more than 500 sightings, and seven species widely reported so far!
You can see the most up-to-date sightings tally on the live sightings board. The number is growing all the time while we work through the data received in the office and as members of the public are still adding adding new sightings all the time.
We’ve had an amazing response from Sea Watch volunteers up, down and across the UK and we’re thrilled to show off some of their incredible pictures…
Common dolphins off the Pembrokeshire Coast by Paul Turkentine.
Mother and calf Risso’s dolphins, North Uist by Colin Speedie.
Minke whale off Falmouth, Cornwall by AK Wildlife Cruises.
White-beaked dolphin (from a group of 100) off Holborn Head, Caithness by Karen Munroe.
Catalogued killer whale, John Coe, by Colin Speedie.
Bottlenose dolphins putting on a show an Chanonry Point, Moray Firth by Tim Stenton.
Notable sightings have been killer whales in Shetland (including a large pod of 12 individuals), Orkney and the Hebrides, minke whales and Risso’s dolphins all around the west coast from the Hebrides down through the Irish Sea to Cornwall, and large numbers of common dolphins in Cornwall, off Pembrokeshire, and the west coast of Scotland as far north as Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. Unusually large numbers of white-beaked dolphins have been seen in the Pentland Firth north of Caithness along with several minke whale sightings, whilst all down the east coast of Scotland there have been groups of bottlenose dolphins observed, and in the Moray Firth and further south off the Yorkshire coast, minke whales have been seen. Harbour porpoises have been widespread occurring as far south as Essex and the river Medway in Kent. Even in Shetland where in recent years they have been scarce, good numbers of porpoises have been seen this last week. The coastal waters around Wales have produced an abundance of species. The largest population of bottlenose dolphins in UK coastal waters can be found in Cardigan Bay, but the species has also been recorded this summer along the North Wales coast eastwards towards Liverpool Bay being spotted in localities such as Rhyl and Blackpool, as well as around the northern rim of the Irish Sea in the Solway Firth. Porpoises have been common off the north coast of Anglesey, the outer edge of Cardigan Bay down to Pembrokeshire and around the Isle of Man. Risso’s dolphins have also been seen around the Isle of Man, off Bardsey Island west of the Llyn Peninsula, and off west Pembrokeshire coming in as close as Skokholm Island. And there has been a scattering of minke whale sightings in the deeper waters between Wales and Ireland and up around the Isle of Man.
Keep sending in those sightings!
