Bottlenose Dolphin Sightings

The Bottlenose dolphin project 2006 in collaboration with Aberdeen University is well under way.

If you have any close up photographs of bottlenose dolphins please send them to sightings@hwdt.org.

If you want to find out more about the national bottlenose dolphin project which is currently underway click here

May 2007

There were ten sightings of bottlenose dolphins reported in May. The majority of these sightings were around the Mull and Iona coastline. Most sightings were of small groups but a larger group was reported in the Sound of Mull in amongst the sightings of smaller groups. This is often the case, as the core group (typically of 15-20 individuals), splits into smaller feeding or social groups. Small groups of 4/5 dolphins ventured into Tobermory Bay twice in the space of a week, delighting the those with a keen eye.

April 2007

8 -10 dolphins sighted off Muasdale holiday park on the Kintyre peninsula between the 10th and 15th of April

Feb/March 2007

There were eight sightings of bottlenose dolphins reported in February, all of them south of Mull. The most southerly sighting was of three dolphins sighted from a motorboat near Campbeltown. The remaining sightings were reported from the Firth of Lorn area. It is possible that some of these sightings were of the same group (4-5 individuals) since they were seen in the same general area (Isles of Luing and Easdale) over a week period.

There were fewer sightings reported in March with just one sighting of a small group of bottlenose dolphins at Kilhoan, Sound of Mull.

September 2006

The bottlenose dolphin sightings hotline has gone very quiet. Perhaps the drop in visitor numbers at this time of year can partly explain this. However, one report finally came through on the 14 th of September of a very large group of about 20-25 dolphins spotted off the Mull of Kintyre. As usual we went through our normal procedure of phoning the research team on board Silurian and the Aberdeen University crew on the RIB to see if anybody was close enough to be able to respond. Unfortunately, neither vessel was anywhere near the Kintyre peninsula, throwing out the window the chance of getting any Photo-ID work done! The RIB decided it was worth heading down that way, but didn't arrive there until the next day. They were very fortunate to find the group of dolphins just round the corner in the Kilbrannan Sound. Some very exciting news has since come back from the team - they recognise many of the dorsal fins from individuals seen a month earlier in the Sound of Mull!

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August 2006

Bottlenose dolphin sightings have also been numerous this month with nine separate sightings reported to our freephone bottlenose dolphin hotline. These sightings are valuable and are contributing to a nationwide research project to study the distribution, population structure and movement patterns of this species. In addition to these sightings, bottlenose dolphin reports were sent into us from the Sound of Mull, around the Small Isles, Sound of Iona and the Kilbrannan sound.

Risso's dolphins were sighted twice by two boat operators; Summer Queen cruises who operate just north of Ullapool and Sealife Surveys who are based around Mull .

Perhaps the most exciting report of all was that of two killer whales spotted near the Treshnish Isles by Sealife Surveys. This was an extremely unusual sighting since the boat had in fact stopped to watch harbour porpoise and had no indication that there were any killer whales in the vicinity. Then, all of a sudden, two killer whales appeared out of nowhere and attacked the porpoise just metres in front of the boat! Much to the surprise of all the passengers and crew on board vessel, they had in fact just witnessed the first confirmed report of killer whales ‘attacking' harbour porpoise in the Hebrides .

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July 2006

Bottlenose dolphin numbers were very healthy, as can be seen from the fantastic photographs taken from Loch Spelve (shown at the top of the page), and we've even had them make another appearance in Tobermory bay! This made for a great start to our Bottlenose dolphin project with people calling our hotline from all over the west coast from Muasdale Holiday Park in the South, where Bottlenose dolphins are regular visitors, to tourists off the Isle of Skye reporting a group playing around their yacht.

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June 2006

Bottlenose dolphins have been regular visitors throughout June and have mainly been seen in small groups of 2-4 individuals. Most reports of bottlenose dolphins have been around the Mull coast with the remaining few from the Kintyre peninsula and around the Skye coast.

Photographs courtesy of Paul Flackett.

These dolphins were spotted one evening in June 2006 from the shore by residents and visitors around Loch Spelve, which is on the South coast of Mull. Local residents were surprised at this rare spectacle as they were very far up the loch. Between 4 and 6 dolphins were seen and they were jumping and playing very close to shore. These photographs were taken that evening by Paul Flacket, a visitor to Mull. HWDT thank him for sending these amazing images into us!

There was only one report of two Orca's in June which was reported from a yacht in between Skye and Canna and only one report of four Risso's dolphins seen by Summer Queen cruises who operate out of Ullapool.

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April & May 2006

At the end of April a small group of bottlenose dolphins were seen in the Sound of Gigha by staff at the Muasdale Holiday Park . Bottlenose dolphins are sighted regularly from this point indicating that this part of the coast is an important area for this species. Closer to home, several sightings of 2 or 3 dolphins have been reported around the Mull coast over the last few weeks, including a possible report of a pair of dolphins south of Raasay.

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December 2005 & January 2006

There were just three sightings during December, all of bottlenose dolphins! A local creel boat reported the first of these sightings. The fishermen described a group of around 20 individuals, with 5 playing around the front of the vessel. The rest of the group were foraging closer in to the coast. The remaining sightings of bottlenose dolphins for December were both reported on New Year’s Eve! A group of 12 were seen mid-morning off the south coast of Mull and a few hours later another group were spotted approximately 25 miles further south off Port Askaig, Islay. Bottlenose dolphins routinely swim at speeds of about 3 to 7 miles per hour. However, some studies indicate maximum speeds of 18 to 22 miles per hour. It is possible therefore that these two sightings were of the same group, although they would have had to be travelling faster than average to make this distance.

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