BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS breakfasted off Seapoint, Co Dublin, yesterday as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) said it had evidence that dolphins were “travelling around the entire Irish coast”.
Seapoint resident Arthur Reynolds, retired editor of the Irish Skipperand former Irish Timescontributor, said he counted five dolphins. "I ran out and looked at them. I didn't need my binoculars to see them but I brought them out to see how they were diving," he said.
Mr Reynolds said he believed the dolphins were concentrating on driving whiting fry into shallower water. “When they dive they can eat a mouthful,” he said. “The interesting thing is that the presence of the dolphins indicates warmer weather and sea temperatures. The fry are here earlier and so are the dolphins. Obviously they are adjusting to climatic changes.”
Mr Reynolds added: “They are wonderful animals, acknowledged as the second most intelligent on earth after homo sapiens.”
IWDG spokesman Simon Berrow said he expected further sightings around the coast and urged people to be on the look-out.
He said the IWDG had been sent a photograph of a dolphin taken in Dublin Bay on June 2nd, 2008, which it was able to match to an image of the same dolphin recorded in Galway Bay on August 31st last year.
“This dolphin made around a 600km journey in around 90 days,” he said. “This remarkable re-sighting suggests bottlenose dolphins are travelling around the entire Irish coast.”
Mr Berrow said he had eyewitness reports that up to 13 bottlenose dolphins were spotted. He said they remained in the bay until noon, “giving watchers a great display of aerial acrobatics”.
