British Whales and Dolphins

British
whales
and
dolphins
(The optimist's guide)

Dolphins and porpoises
Directly related to the whales and commonly encountered in British waters are the tinier cetaceans, dolphins and porpoises. Of the two, porpoises are the smaller and can be identified by their blunted dorsal fin.
This is probably the only way you will identify the little porpoise, common along the Atlantic seaboard and in the northern and central North Sea.
Dolphins have a strongly recurved dorsal fin but, beyond that, recognising types within the dolphin family can get tricky. Bottlenosed, common, striped, whitesided or white-beaked dolphin: whatever the type, even the experts can be confused by a fleeting glimpse. Just shout "Bottlenose!" and no one is likely to argue!
Smallest are the striped dolphins, a couple of feet longer than a porpoise. Animated at the surface, these rare little dolphins might chance your way off the South-west or southern Ireland.
They associate sometimes with the common dolphin, which is slightly larger and is regularly seen everywhere except in the North Sea. Recognised by its hour-glass flank pattern, the common dolphin comes calling at any time but, from July to October, it can surprise you close inshore.
Next up comes the white-sided dolphin, which grows to over 2.8m long, with a deep keel ahead of its tail and a beak much blunter than those of striped and common dolphins. This northern species is most common in the northern North Sea in late summer and is highly gregarious. Schools of more than 1000 have been recorded.

White-beaked dolphins come a little bigger, with a blunt, all-white muzzle and a pale patch behind the dorsal fin. You see them, especially around August, along the Atlantic seaboard and in the northern and central North Sea.
At up to 4m in length, Risso's dolphin is larger than most of its companion species. Blunt-headed, it could be mistaken for a pilot whale but for its dolphin hallmark, the sharp, recurved dorsal fin. Like the pilot whale, it is known to follow ships. In coastal waters, it is likely to appear from May to September, especially along the Atlantic seaboard, and in the Irish and northern North Seas. Another large dolphin is the bottlenose - and it is this dolphin which, through various forms of publicity, has lodged itself most in the minds of the general public. Inquisitive and friendly, bottlenose dolphins have formed close relations with man and have come to symbolise "dolphinkind".
With deep, muscular bodies that grow to over 4m long, they have entertained many a diver and boat-tripper. People have travelled in their thousands, for instance, to visit Funghi, a friendly bottlenose dolphin at Dingle, southern Ireland.
Another bottlenose, Freddie, made the waters of the Amble his home for years, boosting local tourism. Like many adoptive dolphins, he finally took off. But you can be sure that somewhere, some time, other friendly bottlenose dolphins will appear out of the blue to form new relationships with man.

(top to bottom): bottlenose dolphin,
Risso's dolphin,
white-sided dolphin,
stripy dolphin,
pilot whale and killer whale.
Right: porpoise,
common dolphin
and white-beaked dolphin.

Whales

Appeared in DIVER - August 1997

Back to