We are grateful to Nick Morgan for these camera-phone photos (which I have cropped) of a pair of dolphins heading up the Sound of Islay. Shots were traken from Caol Ila.
This was the first shot I received.... On the basis of this shot, I was (unsurprisingly) unconvinced that this is a Bottle-nosed dolphin - the body shape is not quite right, there is no sign of a beak and the flanks are marked.
I therefore asked Nick if he had any more shots, and he sent these two...
While these reinforce the impression (to my mind) that these are not Bottle-nosed, they do not perhaps give many more clues than the first as to their actual adentity....
Does anyone have any ideas?
Nick has a very experienced yachtsman friend who reckons they are Risso's. I have never seen Risso's apart from pictures. Any comments anyone?
Cheers
Carl