Crowded Bay for Dolphins - Update 1

Since we started our monitoring program we have been out between two and three times every week. On some of our trips we saw small groups of common and/or striped dolphins, in some cases they were interacting. In one case we even saw the incredibly rare sight of a single bottlenose dolphin accompanying a herd of common dolphins.

Of course our data is not yet representative. We noted however that the groups of common dolphins and striped dolphins seem to prefer lingering in the northern end of the centre of the bay where there is little shipping traffic, but the data we will collect over the next year may paint a completely different picture. In any case: We will keep you updated.

During yesterday’s trip we again saw groups of striped and common dolphins (see pictures above) familiar to us from previous outings. The striped dolphins were interacting with each other and collectively feeding in a small area of around a thousand square metres – we could not see what they consumed as they were diving quite deeply. The common dolphins swam alongside our research vessel Nimo. They were in the same area as the striped dolphins, but they were neither feeding nor was there an interaction between the two herds. Both groups did not appear to be upset about each other’s presence.