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Fishers' involvement is crucial. Image: WDC/JTF

When porpoises and people overlap

We're funding a project in Hong Kong that's working with fishing communities to help save...

Mindful conservation – why we need a new respect for nature

'We should look at whales and dolphins as the indigenous people of the seas -...
A dolphin called Arnie with a shell

Dolphins catch fish using giant shell tools

In Shark Bay, Australia, two groups of dolphins have figured out how to use tools...
Common dolphins at surface

Did you know that dolphins have unique personalities?

We all have personalities, and between the work Christmas party and your family get-together, perhaps...
Leaping harbour porpoise

The power of harbour porpoise poo

We know we need to save the whale to save the world. Now we are...
Holly. Image: Miray Campbell

Meet Holly, she’s an incredible orca leader

Let me tell you the story of an awe-inspiring orca with a fascinating family story...
Humpback whale. Image: Christopher Swann

A story about whales and humans

As well as working for WDC, I write books for young people. Stories; about the...
Risso's dolphin at surface

My lucky number – 13 years studying amazing Risso’s dolphins

Everything we learn about the Risso's dolphins off the coast of Scotland amazes us and...

Flashback or Comeback?

Ionian Dolphin Project

Back in June I reported on the wonderful sighting by friends of WDC (the Ionian Dolphin Project) of a pod of 7 common dolphins in the waters off of Greece in the Mediterranean Sea. This was a truly remarkable and very exciting sighting as it is an area that has seen a drastic decline in numbers of common dolphins, from 150 to 15 in just over 10 years, and it had been many years since the researchers had seen any at all. However, now there is even more good news that needs to be shared.

Just the other day they encountered another group, consisting of 6 individuals (5 adults and one juvenile) and were treated to a spectacle of common dolphin exuberance – this is a species that just love to show off, play and leap out of the water. As if this wasn’t enough, preliminary results from their photo-identification work has shown that some of the dolphins are already known to the researchers and one dolphin in particular was first seen in these very waters back in 1997 … 16 years between sightings!! 

Joan Gonzalvo, Priniciple Investigator of the Ionian Dolphin Project said, “For a couple of hours it felt as if we were back in the early 90′s; as if we were back in those good old days when seeing groups of common dolphins was no surprise. While lack of prey caused by overfishing resulted in habitat loss, a decline in numbers and dispersion, common dolphins may re-colonise this area and possibly increase in numbers if timely fisheries management action is taken.”

So perhaps, for common dolphins in the Mediterranean, classified as Endangered by the IUCN, there is hope after all …!