Strumble porp tailslapping, but why? .. and splitfin again!

Good Morning Cliff ,
I had a short watch at the head this morning & during the time i was there saw a few porps one of which did something i have never seen before.It was out approx tide race distance & for what must have been between 5 to 10 minutes swam around on the surface & Tail Slapped a minimum of 26 times , there were quite a few around this morning but it idin't seem to attract any of the others.

Cheers
Adrian

Thanks Adrian for this, I have seen them tailslap repeatedly, often juveniles seemingly displaying high spirits , but this seems a little excessive, any ideas?
later... spent a half hour at Strumble with Alison, checking out the porpoise activity saw some breaching and even a bit of fluking as well as a couple of tail slaps , they seemed a bit excited though difficult to work out exactly why or hiw many in very roughed up seas
from Alison...

Just catching up with news from Ramsey Sound. Not many porpoise there yesterday, Sun.4th.April but on Sat.27th.Mar.about 12-15, maybe more, active in the ebb tide race, including a tight group of 9-10 which I watched move all the way up the Sound at the start of the flood tide. Also had a sighting of Splitfin, the porpoise with the severely damaged dorsal fin which I also recorded in the Sound on Mar.7th.. The same animal was first identified in Feb. east of St. David's Head by 2 Dutch volunteers. Sun.28th.Mar., still good numbers there. I think not so many, but actively present in the ebb tide for the 3 hours I was there.....all the best, Alison.

Splitfin again, this is really important because in the past so called "experts" have denied that porpoises are "resident" and so therefore objected to classifying areas such as Strumble or Ramsay Sound, as "of importance to porpoises". Therefore although anyone who spends time watching the porpoises here knows at least some of them must be resident for lengthy periods. Because most porpoises appear pretty uniform given the distances and brevity of sightings, we could not prove it, denying their place in the listing for marine SAC protection status within SAC's. Splitfin is beginnig to provide the proof we have been looking for!