Sunday 17 October 2010

White-beaked Dolphin?

Some more pictures of the pair of dolphins seen off Caol Ila (see earlier positing) have emerged (thanks Kate!) and while they still do not provide the definitive answer, they perhaps suggest White-beaked Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) - a cold water cetacean that while unusual (to say the least) in the Sound of Islay, is perhaps a little more plausible than Risso's (Grampus griseus) although Risso's remains a possibility.  These new shots are higher resolution than Nick's originals and I think we can now discount Bottle-nosed which is the dolphin most usually found around Islay.



These are shots of White-beaked strandings.



Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis), which is of course not even slightly common off Islay, is another possibility, but the initial photo from Nick seems to show an animal without a beak, or at least with only a very short beak....

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