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Jumping for joy
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Amidst the usual doom and gloom about disappearing marine life, a ray of hope comes with evidence suggesting that seas off Western Europe remain a healthy rearing ground for dolphins and whales.
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Over a number of years, researchers working in the Bay of Biscay and English Channel have reported that sightings of certain types of dolphin and whale calves and juveniles increase in spring and summer - and 2005 was no exception.
Scientists of the Biscay Dolphin Research Programme get their recordings by making regular voyages aboard a P&O ferry on the run from Portsmouth to Bilbao in northern Spain.
'In May we started to record calves amongst the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) pods which are often encountered bow-riding the Pride of Bilbao,' Clive Martin, BDRP Director and Senior Wildlife Officer, said.
'We have also encountered harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) calves in the English Channel. A number of fin (Balaenoptera physalus) and sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) calves and juveniles have also been encountered during May and June.'
Referring to the later summer period, Dr Tom Brereton, BDRP Scientific Officer, added: 'From the unique BDRP Biscay sightings database which spans the last 10 years, calves from a number of cetacean species start to be seen regularly in June and July.
'Encounters continue during the summer months when calves of common, striped and bottlenose dolphins, harbour porpoises, fin whales, sperm whales, pilot whales and Cuvier's beaked whales are seen.'
On one voyage across Biscay this year, Martin and another researcher sighted an estimated 3500 common dolphins. In one pod numbering at least 1000 individuals, the researchers noted more than 50 juveniles and calves.
The non-profit Biscay Dolphin Research Programme was founded in 1995 to 'further the conservation of cetaceans (whales and dolphins) and other marine life through scientific investigation and educational activities'.
Photo courtesy Clive Martin/BDRP
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