admin1
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Joined: 03 Feb 2006
Posts: 349
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 Posted:
21.07.10, 2.12pm Bottlenose Dolphin Match |
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July 2010: Two Bottlenose Dolphins (BND) pictured at the mouth of Lough Swilly below Fort Dunree have been matched to the Irish Coastal bottlenose dolphin catalogue as BNDIRL 4 & BNDIRL57.
BNDIRL 4 was first recorded in 2005 in Waterford and it has been seen twice this year and BNDIRL 57 was seen in 2008 in Donegal Bay. This marks a significant breakthrough for the Lough Swilly BND group as previous to this little was known about their activities outside the Lough. This also proves that the pod move and feed further south of Lough Swilly. Previously it has been suggested that Lough Swilly was their most southerly range and it was inferred by a number of marine biologists that the pod was linked with Scottish BND populations. This does not mean the Lough Swilly pods do not venture further north but just that they have been seen and do feed as far south as Waterford in the Irish sea.
More details and pictures of the dolphins can be found on the iwdg photo I.D. catalogue at the following link
http://www.iwdg.ie/iscope/sightings/photoID.asp?species=2251
If you see BND around the coast of Donegal try to follow the iwdg guide lines and stay off 50-100m from the animals. Let them approach you and take as many pictures as possible of the fins.
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