Do dolphins hang around the same place ...

Angele

Angele

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or do they roam the seas?

A month ago I spotted a pod of (approximately 8) dolphins between Dielette and Cap de la Hague, close in to the French coast.

I was leaving Jersey last Saturday when one of my crew asked if we were going to pass the same point where we had seen them in July, and I dismissed her comment on the basis that dolphins don't live in a single place, but roam the seas.

But, blow me, there they (or another pod) were. In exactly the same place.
 
They do both...

... or rather, they tend to locate where the food-fish are.

F'r example, There is often a feeding pod to be found just seaward of the bar at Salcombe Harbour entrance, feeding on the change of tide. It seems that's a good spot for shoals of fish ( nutrients? ) and the dolphins 'herd' them tighly together.

Also, dolphin are commonly found just south of the chain of islets running NW from Pointe St Mathieu, near Brest, again apparently feeding o the change of tide. Not many Brits go thereabouts, most charging past on the Chenal du Four - Raz de Sein holiday milkrun, ticking off the Waypoints like beads on a rosary. Then there are others just outside Baltimore Harbour.... usually.

What the big oceanic shoals of dolphin are up to is anyone's guess, but they swarm in their hundreds.
 
We've been into the river Jaudy several times in the last two years to visit Treguier. Two dolphins have been present there each time. I can't say for sure if they're always the same ones. They're well known. They seem to stay in the area between the port and starboard entry buoys and the lighthouse.
They are usually described as friendly and playful, but I would say we were attacked by one of them on our way out recently. It repeatedly hit our hull and keel with enough force to make our 5-ton Westerly shudder. I would be very concerned if it attacked our spade rudder.
 
Every time I have sailed past Penmarch I have seen dolphins. Except when the weather / sea conditions made it impossible to see if there were any about.
 
There is definitely a resident pod of dolphins in the Moray Firth. we see them frequently when sailing, they love to come and swim alongside boats. This pod has (and probably still is) been well researched and I think they know exactly how many there are, and the extent over which they travel.
 

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Resident common dolphin again at the green Hunterston 11 bouy near Millport on the Clyde. He's been there every time I pass and will bowride.
Looks very similar to the one who hung around Fairlie for years just a mile or so North towards Largs.
These resident "loners"- usually males - seem to be a fairly common phenomena around the coast.
 
Angele - if you are leaving Jersey St Helier and turn right/ westwards you may see them off the south Jersey coast as well before you reach the SW corner - they were riding our bow there this summer July for about 20 to 30 minutes but we have never seen them there before - maybe they are the ones you saw up towards the Cap.
 
ashtead said:
Angele - if you are leaving Jersey St Helier and turn right/ westwards you may see them off the south Jersey coast as well before you reach the SW corner - they were riding our bow there this summer July for about 20 to 30 minutes but we have never seen them there before - maybe they are the ones you saw up towards the Cap.
Click to expand...

I came round the corner off Corbiere the weekend before last (bound for St Helier from Alderney) and didn't see any. I think you were lucky.
 
Halcyon Yachts said:
I think that the pods do tend to stay within a certain area. You often also see a lone dolphin branching out, presumably a male looking for a new mate...
Pete
Click to expand...

I've encountered a few lone bottlenecks: one for almost the entire passage from off Pembrokeshire to Land's End*, and two more in different harbours in Brittany. One escorted me back from the supermarket to a Le Camaret mooring (well, not all the way - he didn't walk too well ;)); the other supervised my dropping the hook at Ste Evette, following it to the bottom with rapt attention. My impression was that these were elderly males, perhaps kicked out of the pod by the new boss. I later learned that both were well-known locally. Our friend Roberto knows something about them.

Other 'resident' dolphins such as Fungie are well-known: http://www.ireland.com/destinations/republic-of-ireland/kerry/dingle/articles/dingle-dolphin-fungie/
I'd assumed their adoption of one area was fairly commonplace, but not always: http://whaledolphintrust.co.uk/news_article.asp?news_id=410
I suppose it's possible that Clet was one of the bottlenoses I encountered in Brittany.

From what I've read in the past, I solitary dolphin is likely to be an older male, as you wrote. A small group of full-size dolphins with no youngsters is likely to be a group of adolescent males. (Very sensible parenting to kick them out when they get to that bothersome phase).

* It was striking, although scarcely evidence of territoriality, that having been with us on-and-off for almost ten hours, he peeled off and disappeared to the north precisely as we passed Land's End into the Channel.
 
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>They do both...

Agree - we have seen them by harbours and on long distance passages where they turn up to play by the bows. On one occasion we were leaving through a reef break in Puerto Rico with murky water Mr, Mrs and Junior dolphin turned up and Junior dolphin led the way through the break closely watched by Mr dolphin once through they went off. Talking to other cruisers they do it often and Mr dolphin is so big he is called Buster.
 
macd said:
From what I've read in the past, I solitary dolphin is likely to be an older male, as you wrote. A small group of full-size dolphins with no youngsters is likely to be a group of adolescent males. (Very sensible parenting to kick them out when they get to that bothersome phase).
Click to expand...

The ones I saw were a family group. There was at least one baby, alongside mum.
 
Just got back to Jersey last night after a 2 day trip to Granville and Chausey

It's unusual NOT to see a dolphin at some point on a trip through these waters SE of Jersey, and we duly picked up a fully grown solo dolphin who spent 10 minutes right on and under our bow, much to delight of our daughter who was on her first trip on the boat.

I commented at time it was unusual to see a solo dolphin round here, so the comments above are interesting.

We were motoring at time and I do find the engine seems to attract them, as the likelihood of contact seems higher when motoring, from our experience. We also seem to find them more often in good weather - I can't explain that, I know they are there, I don't know whether they are less obvious in a rougher sea, but I'm sure we would see them if they came alongside even in a bigger sea.

May be its the fact we are more likely to be motoring ?
 
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