'Killer dolphin' on loose off UK coast spotted slaying baby mammal and shark
A deadly dolphin who has been branded "Jack the Flipper" is prowling UK waters after killing one of its own kind.
Sarah Michelle Wyer, who works for Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips, was left stunned when she spotted the creature pounce on a shark off the coast of Mid Wales last week. The dolphin watcher revealed that Jack is part of a pod in Cardigan Bay and has previous offences.
She says the latest attack comes just three months after Jack, a bottlenose dolphin, targeted a juvenile common dolphin three months ago. Sarah suspects that the reason common dolphins are not often seen in Cardigan Bay, is because of the bottlenose dolphins.
In Sarah's eight years of watching the marine mammals, it is the first time she has seen them "throw a shark out" of water. Sarah says Jack was re-named after previously being called Anakin, after the Star Wars character.
Speaking about the bizarre scenes, she told The Sun: 'When Anakin killed the young common dolphin, it was the first recorded instance of this behaviour happening in Cardigan Bay. It is unknown why this dolphin chose to do it — as it would have been of no threat."
She added: "They are not 'friendly flipper'. This particular dolphin seems to have a very unusual personality." Bottlenose dolphins can grow up to 12ft in size, while smooth-hounds can only reach up to 4ft in length.
Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips commented: 'We were very surprised when one of our local dolphins, Anakin, brought what we originally thought was a large salmon past the boat and then threw the fish out the water.
'To our surprise, it was not a salmon but a member of the shark family called a smooth-hound." They explained that while there may not be many records of smooth-hounds being part of the dolphin's diet, bottlenose dolphins are "opportunistic feeders". 'Anakin's dolphinality is a very unusual one to say the least," they said.
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