The first resident pod of bottlenose dolphins has been discovered off the south-west coast of England.
Experts used thousands of sightings and photos to identify a group of 28 individuals living year-round off the coasts of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset.
They were identified using their dorsal fins, which are as unique to dolphins as fingerprints are to humans.
Plymouth University researchers studied 3,843 records to identify 98 dolphins and among them the resident population.
The sightings, recorded between 2007 and 2016, established the group was present in shallow coastal waters, mainly off Cornwall and particularly near St Ives Bay and Mount's Bay.
Ruth Williams, marine conservation manager at the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said: "Further work is needed but this is a huge step forward and I am proud of what our partnership between Cornwall Wildlife Trust, scientists and boat operators has achieved.
"We need to make sure the few we currently have in the south west are given the protection not just to survive, but to thrive."=read more...Hi Mark, Yes we see them all the time. They are the inshore pod that range between the Isle of White and Ilfracombe. A large portion of the data in the project was ours and I was heavily involved in supervising Rebecca who carried out the analysis. It was a combined project that we worked on with Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Plymouth University and Exeter University.
Duncan
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