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Looking out for dolphins and porpoises in Wales

Looking out for dolphins and porpoises in Wales

Have you ever fancied yourself as a dolphin researcher? If you think you’ve got what it takes, you could join us on the remote Welsh island of Bardsey (Ynys Enlli) next year. I have just returned from Bardsey Island with my colleague Pine Eisfeld-Pierantonio. We spent the last two weeks of August looking out for…

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New season looking out for Risso's dolphins

I was on an early morning beach dog walk on Monday, our first day back on the Isle of Lewis this year when I saw a fin slice out of the water in the quiet, still bay in front of our accommodation. I held my breath. Not just any fin, but a Risso’s dolphin! We…

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Famine or Feast – Isle of Lewis Research Blog

It was a slow start to this seasons fieldwork here on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. High winds (at this time of year the remnants from the various hurricanes battering the Caribbean and USA) and lots of rain kept us on land and indoors for the first week however patience, being a…

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The windy watch – Bardsey Island Survey 2017

Another Bardsey Island (Ynys Enlli) field season is over, this time a little earlier than planned as the strong winds, some of which were over 50 mph, made it impossible for us to survey. However in the short time we were there we were treated to some dolphin delights. The waters around Bardsey Island are…

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Risso’s dolphins in north Wales – Bardsey Island fieldwork 2015

Thanks to funding from Natural Resources Wales (NRW), we were able to go to Bardsey Island (Ynys Enlli) for two weeks in September this year to undertake our study into the Risso’s dolphin and harbour porpoise populations there. Our team of two (project leader Pine Eisfeld-Pierantonio and myself), were joined by NRW’s Senior Marine Mammal Ecologist,…

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We got Lucky – will the Risso’s and porpoises get lucky too?

We’ve had a short but very successful field season with some really amazing encounters here off the North East of Lewis. Just last Monday we had a bumper sighting of a HUMPBACK WHALE! Our team of local Shorewatchers have also had a bumper year of sightings from the Tiumpan Head lighthouse headland that makes up…

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Familiar Fins, New Faces and Bizarre Encounters … !!

Ask anyone and they’ll tell you that Scotland has been having a dismal summer this year, low temperatures and rain and wind galore. The weather however isn’t going to stop our dolphins go about their daily business and so we returned (even more determined than ever) to our field site on the Isle of Lewis…

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