A nice pod of 20+ Common Dolphins found yesterday afternoon, halfway between St Anne's Head and Skokholm. As many as every other adult had a calf, some of which were tiny!
Then two adults between Skokholm and Grassholm, which did NOT want to play with us, but steamed across our bow.
An interesting question that has been asked by some people who have lived and sailed in the area for a long time is why we seem to be getting more dolphins close inshore, rather than just in the Celtic Deep. Clearly, increased observer effort may be an element of the greater number of sightings (this blog may be a very valuable catalyst in this respect) but some people have seen more dolphins inshore in the last 2-3 years than the previous 10-20. There may genuinely be more dolphins,but may the distribution (or amount) of food also have changed, forcing them closer?
