Start of 2024 Dolphin Season!

Last week, the dolphin team kicked off the 2024 research work at Torry Battery. This is the third year we have conducted land-based surveys from this site - and the dolphins did not disappoint!

Both shifts had numerous groups of dolphins (including calves!), with plenty of showing-off, surface-active behaviour. Observers were treated to jumps, tail slaps, fish tossing, and even some bow-riding on the large vessels moving into Aberdeen Harbour. Not a bad start, especially combined with some glorious weather!

Each year, we record dolphin occurrence in terms of how many animals are present, the main activity state of the group, and any interesting behaviours. We also note the "context" in terms of the environmental conditions, presence of feeding birds, vessel traffic, and any other human activities in and around the harbour. This season, we will be increasing our behavioural monitoring to more closely focus on individual behavioural events, with the aim of understanding some more of the subtleties surrounding dolphin responses to environmental and human factors.

If sightings like these continue, the data entry back in the office promises to be just as busy as the data collection out in the field!

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