"During the summer months Cardigan Bay plays host to the largest population of bottlenose dolphins within the UK.
In researching these charismatic animals, the majority of effort has focussed on the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC) around New Quay.
It is becoming increasingly apparent however, that this species ranges much further than the boundaries of the SAC and that the current protective designations for bottlenose dolphins and the habitats which they rely upon are limited.
Aberystwyth, north of the Cardigan Bay SAC, has no protective designation and little quantitative data exists regarding bottlenose dolphins in this area.
As such, a survey was conducted last summer, in collaboration with Friends of Cardigan Bay and Aberystwyth University, employing a team of local volunteers to examine when and how bottlenose dolphins use the coastal waters around Aberystwyth harbour.
This work was part of a Master's project by myself for the Managing the Environment degree course in the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences Department.
The results of this survey revealed that dolphin sightings were significantly more frequent than previously reported for this region.
Indeed, dolphins were sighted on nearly half of all volunteer watches completed during the month of June.
During July, sightings were less frequent, however when dolphins did appear, they tended to stay within the harbour area for a similar period of time as in June (on average between 15-20 minutes but sometimes as long as 2 hours).
Typically, dolphin sightings were recorded more frequently during calm sea conditions when the visibility was good and there was also a tendency for sightings to occur towards high tide.
Mother dolphins with calves were reported on over a third of watches and one mother and calf in particular, repeatedly occupied the harbour area close to shore, much."
Article by Sarah Lister
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