Wildlife
Common short-beaked dolphins are the most numerous dolphins in the world, and can be seen in British waters. They are very social creatures and are seldom alone. The whole school (usually 10 to 500 individuals) can all be leaping in the air at one time.
Scientific name: Delphinus delphis
Rank: Species
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Special sighting
Presenter Iolo Williams goes in search of fin whales off the southern Irish coast.
Presenter Iolo Williams goes in search of fin whales off the southern Irish coast.
Sardine run
A huge shoal of sardines is attacked on all sides.
A wonderful, action-packed sequence, this clip combined footage from above and below the water to illustrate the squeeze that's put on the sardine shoal. As sharks, dolphins, whales and birds attack from the deep, the surface and the air, a variety of hunting techniques is exposed.
Under attack
Sardine shoaling defence is no match for the numerous predators joining the feast.
This clip from Nature's Great Events was a real roller-coaster to get on film as the ‘annual’ sardine run turned out to be much less predictable than the crew had thought. After many weeks scouring the quiet seas around Africa’s wild coast, and slowly losing hope, the sardine run finally sprang to life. Dolphins, sharks and tens of thousands of gannets whipped themselves into a feeding frenzy unrivalled anywhere in the world. To be in the thick of it was an amazing – and at times frightening – experience.
High-speed dolphins
Unique aerial shots of dolphins travelling at high speed towards their hunting target.
Dolphins travel at high speed, amidst a ball of spray, so it's hard to film them from the surface. For underwater animals, the sound of a helicopter passing overhead is like a military jet to us. At a critical angle the sudden boom distresses the dolphins and affects their behaviour. The heligimbal system avoids this by operating high above, but its powerful lens still captures sustained close-up action.
The Short-beaked common dolphin can be found in a number of locations including: Mediterranean, United Kingdom, Wales. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Least Concern
Population trend: Unknown
Year assessed: 2008
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
The short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) is a species of common dolphin. It has a larger range than the long-beaked common dolphin (D. capensis), occurring throughout warm-temperate and tropical oceans, with the possible exception of the Indian Ocean. There are more short-beaked common dolphins than any other dolphin species in the warm-temperate portions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is also found in the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas.
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Language
Pack-hunter
Adapted to swimming
Carnivorous
Social
Viviparous