Bottles going back to Cardigan Bay after winter hols...

 

11:30 am - 12:00 pm today. (15/2/23)

Our survey today saw the return of the bottlenose dolphins!

At around 11:30 am today, we were treated to a close-up view of 20+ bottlenose dolphins. Every February for the past three years, we've spotted these guys travelling past Strumble Head.

20+ bottlenose dolphins travelling past Strumble Head. The porpoise emerged around 15 minutes after the bottlenose had moved on, looking tiny in comparison!

Nadia, Sea Trust

 

At least two quite young looking juveniles here, and quite a few in other images suggesting perhaps a maternal group

In this image one large dolphin is on its side showing its belly which may be a mating attempt.

A quick trawl through WinW archives shows several sightings of groups of Bottles moving north past Strumble/Fishguard Bay going back to 2009 when the blog started

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I have been keeping a regular look out for Porpoises and Dolphins from the outer breakwater of Fishyguard Harbour but only managed Porpoises so far this year. A message from Rodger Strawbridge (one of the Lifeboat crew) just rang in to let me know they had at least four Bottles in Fishguard Bay this morning! 

18/2/2013

Arrived at Pwllgwaelod at 8.30 and looking straight across immediately saw some splashing in the middle of the bay . Scan with bins showed a number of BN dolphin hunting actively.  As I swept  around it was clear that they were spread out across a wide area, with more coming in from the mouth of the bay. As such it was hard to determine their number but I would estimate a minimum of 30 . The first group I saw had by now moved in closer towards Fishguard Caravan Park and had obviously herded their prey ahead of them, which they then proceeded to hammer into, with frequent leaps out of the water and surging for about 5 minutes - really spectacular activity.  With calm water and crystal clear light I was able to make out 8-9 adults, with two half sized juveniles. As they made their way back towards the mouth of Fishguard bay they passed within 150 m of where I was standing. When I left most of the rest of the pod were active around Pen Anglas.

Andrew Crowder

20/2/17

A pod of at least 30 Bottlenose Dolphins were at the south end of Ramsey Sound this morning.
Lisa and Greg

Of course the odds against anyone actually connecting with them as they pass by are a  bit small but with more observers out there, we have recorded them at more or less the same time over the past three years!