'Whale and dolphin bonanza' in Welsh waters could signal change in marine behaviour

Minke whale


Risso dolphon
From Wales Online: 'Whale and dolphin bonanza' in Welsh waters could signal change in marine behaviour
The Welsh coast is now attracting whales and dolphins in such large numbers that it could herald a change in their global behaviour, researchers have claimed.

It follows the sightings of dozens of whales, dolphins and porpoises off the Pembrokeshire coastline.

An unprecedented 15 minke whales and even one rare humpback whale were seen swimming within 14 hours.

Cliff Benson, of Sea Trust South and West Wales, called it a “whale and dolphin bonanza” as spotters made the most of unusually calm weather conditions on the Irish Sea.

He said: “This weekend we saw 15 minke whales, we have only seen a total of 31 in all the previous years of monthly research added together since 2004.

“That shows something is happening.”

Mr Benson added that he had also seen certain types of dolphins doubling in number off the coast.

He said: “Risso’s dolphin have doubled in number. We are beginning to see trends emerging. It could be because there is plenty of fish here or a sign that fish stocks in the Bay of Biscay (where the dolphins would usually be spotted) are low.”

Mr Benson said some species of whale, such as fin whales, had been disappearing from the Bay of Biscay, raising fears that over-fishing and climate change could be disturbing ecosystems.

He said: “Fin whales have not been seen in the Bay of Biscay for some time, so fish stocks could be moving north as the climate gets warmer and warms up the sea currents.”

Among the dozens of sightings he and his team had spotted on board their ferry over the weekend was a rare humpback whale.

“The humpback whale was a big surprise,” he said.

“It was just on his own and I think he was a young one because they can end up anywhere.

“We would normally expect them to be off Iceland feeding on krill at the moment or at the Bay of Biscay.”

Humpback whales are known for their ability to communicate across great distances through the world’s oceans.

During the weekend, Mr Benson said his team were also “astonished” to see a minke whale reach speeds of up to 20mph as it chased their ferry around the Welsh coast between Fishguard and Rosslare in Ireland.

“The minke whale didn’t seem to be doing much at first, but I noticed it coming nearer to the ferry,” he said.

“I think we must have disturbed it as it snoozed and then started to chase us.

“We could see massive surges and splashes as it kept up with the 30,000-tonne ferry at speeds of at least 20mph for more than a minute. I hadn’t seen anything like it before in all my survey work. The whale was chasing us like a dog goes after a car. I can only guess that he was doing it through instinct.”

Minke whales have a tell-tale white flash on their flipper and are one of the smallest whales. They normally swim at speeds between 3mph and 16mph but can go up to 20mph in bursts when in danger