BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-09)

WILDMONTH

Summer may be slowly fading away but there is

stillsomuchtoenjoyoutdoors this September.

By Ben Hoare

Charlie Philips/WDC

Latesummerandautumnarea busy

timeforbottlenosedolphins.“After

a 13-monthgestation,thefemales

givebirthattheendofAugustinto

September,”saysCharliePhillips,a

fieldofficerforWhaleandDolphin

ConservationbasedattheMoray

FirthontheeastcoastofScotland.

“Aroundthistime,thedolphins’

mainfoodsourcehereswitches

frommigratorysalmontoshoaling

mackerelcominginfromtheNorth

Sea.Thefemalesaregladoffishlike

mackerelandalsoherring,asthey

canmetabolisethelipidsquickly,

turningthemintothick,richmilk.”

Amazingly,theyoungwillsucklefor

18 months.

BritishandIrishwatersarehome

tosomeoftheworld’slargestand

mostnortherlybottlenosedolphins.

Thebest-known(andmosteasily

seen)populationsareresidentin

theMorayFirth,CardiganBayin

MidWales,andGalwayBayandthe

ShannonEstuaryonIreland’swest

coast,thoughtherearea fewinthe

Hebridesandsouth-westEngland.

InhisbookTheNatureof Summer,

naturalistJimCrumleydescribes

beautifullyhowpodsofdolphins

“flirtinequalmeasurewithsurface

andunderwater”.Sometimes, he

writes,theyswiminanunhurried,

almostmatter-of-factstyle,but it’s

the“playing-to-the-galleryhigh

jinks”thatwildlifewatchersare

reallyafter.

FIND OUT MORE

Visit whales.org and

dolphincentre.whales.org

1 | BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN

High jinks