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New Study shows dolphins as abundant in winter as summer
A new study published by the SDWF shows that botlenose dolphins are as abundant in the inner Shannon Estuary during the winter as the summer.
In order to record the distribution of bottlenose dolphins in the inner part of the Shannon estuary, dedicated boat transects were carried out during the winter (November to March).
Bottlenose dolphins were recorded on seven of the ten transects with six of these sightings between Scattery Island and the Tarbert Races with only one up-river, off Foynes Island. Eighteen individual dolphins were recognised using photo-identification and all had been previously recorded in the estuary. T
he results confirm that bottlenose dolphins do occur regularly in the Shannon estuary during winter months with sighting frequency comparable to transects carried out during the summer in other parts of the estuary.
This study is published in the recent edition of Irish Naturalists Journal:
Berrow, S.D. (2009) Winter distribution of Bottle-nosed Dolphins Tursiops truncatus (Montagu) in the inner Shannon Estuary. Irish Naturalists’ Journal. 30(1), 35-39.
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