22-04-2025
Boat trippers witness 'extremely rare' moment pod of dolphins kill baby calf off Welsh coast
Boat trippers witness 'extremely rare' moment pod of dolphins kill baby calf off Welsh coast
The sighting was described by an eyewitness as remarkable as it was heartbreaking
Baby dolphin killed by bottlenose dolphins off coast of Wales
A fascinating video has captured the moment four bottlenose dolphins hunted down and killed a common dolphin calf off the coast of Wales. Dylan Coundley-Hughes, an intern working with the Sea Watch Foundation, captured the moment during a boat trip with a group of passengers on a wildlife watching trip off the coast of New Quay, Cardigan Bay.
The rare occurrence saw the four dolphins throw the calf into the air followed by intense splashing. According to the Sea Watch Foundation it is extremely rare to witness bottlenose dolphins attacking common dolphin calves, and much more common to see them preying on porpoises.
Dylan explained of his footage: 'While conducting a boat survey on behalf of the Sea Watch Foundation aboard a dolphin spotting wildlife tour we observed intense splashing and dolphin activity.
"At first, we saw something flung into the air and suspected a porpoise, but to our disbelief, it was a common dolphin calf, making this encounter an interspecific infanticide.
'I was filming for a personal documentary at the time and couldn't believe I had captured such a rare behaviour between different dolphin species. It was both remarkable and heartbreaking to witness.'
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Sarah Michelle Wyer, who works for the dolphin spotting boat trips off the coast of west Wales as a guide and a photographer, said: 'It was an incredibly rare encounter where a pod of bottlenose dolphins attacked and killed a common dolphin calf.
"I've never seen that behaviour before. It's very common for bottlenose dolphins to attack porpoises but we've never seen it with common dolphins.'
This the moment a common dolphin calf was flung into the air before being killed by a pod of four bottlenose dolphins in an extremely rare sighting
(Image: Dylan Coundley-Hughes/Sea Watch Foundation )
The Sea Watch Foundation, a nationwide charity working to improve the conservation of whales, dolphins and porpoises in British waters, has been monitoring bottlenose dolphins in Cardigan Bay for over 20 years to inform and advise on their conservation status and protection.
Dolphin spotting boat trips support their efforts by providing additional data and allowing interns to join wildlife trips to photograph the dolphins for photo-identification, a method by which individual dolphins can be identified by their dorsal fin.
Cardigan Bay is considered one of the few locations in Britain with a resident bottlenose dolphin population. There are an estimated 200 to 300 bottlenose dolphins in the area.
Bottlenose dolphins are often portrayed as playful and friendly animals but while their complex behaviour and intelligence is what draws people to them, scientists working with them often see another side to them as well.
Katrin Lohrengel, who runs the Sea Watch Foundation's Cardigan Bay Monitoring Project, explained: 'Bottlenose dolphins have a very wholesome reputation but many people are not aware that male dolphins have been known to commit infanticide, they kill bottlenose dolphin calves.
'They have also been documented killing harbour porpoises and often show aggression to other cetacean species. Both infanticide and 'porpicide' are known to occur in Cardigan Bay but we have never witnessed interspecific aggression towards common dolphins before. While it's not surprising that this behaviour is taking place, it's very rare to witness it and even rarer to catch it on film.'
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According to the charity, while it is difficult to pinpoint a cause for this aggressive behaviour, it is possible that competition for resources such as prey may play a role in these interactions.
A post-mortem of the common dolphin calf will be conducted by CSIP (UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme), which may provide further insight into the circumstances surrounding this behavioural event and the condition of the calf.
