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Lasting legacies

Lasting Legacies: Orca Action Month 2023

Each June we celebrate Orca Month and the unique community of Southern Resident orcas, and this...
North Atlantic right whale - Peter Flood

Whale AID 2023: A Night of Music and Hope for North Atlantic Right Whales

The inaugural Whale AID concert to support Whale and Dolphin Conservation's (WDC's) work to protect...
IMG_6030

Meet the 2023 Interns: Thomas Zoutis

I'm happy to introduce WDC's first Marine Mammal Conservation Intern of the year, Thomas Zoutis!...
MicrosoftTeams-image (9)

Double Your Impact for Marine Animal Rescue & Response

On a chilly day this past December, the WDC North America team celebrated the first...
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WDC’s Education Wishlist = Cleared!

To the WDC Community, I want to thank you so much for your support of...
Hysazu Photography

Looking forward for Southern Resident orcas in 2023

Hysazu Photography 2022 was a big year for Southern Resident orcas - 2022 brought the...
Credit: Seacoast Science Center

The Unlikely Adventure of Shoebert, a Young Grey Seal Who Visited an Industrial Park Pond

Credit: Seacoast Science Center In mid-September, our stranding partners in northern Massachusetts were inundated with...
Leaping harbour porpoise

The power of harbour porpoise poo

We know we need to save the whale to save the world. Now we are...

Dolphin social networks are unusually open

In March 2012 the New Scientist reported on research in Shark Bay Western Australia which shows that male bottlenose dolphins in this area cooperate in groups of two or three. These smaller groups also link with others to form ‘gangs’ of up to 14 males and these ‘gangs’ can sometimes also coalesce to form even larger groupings.

With some exceptions, terrestrial mammals tend to live in more closed social groupings that occasionally accept new members emigrating in from other coalitions. What is curious about this research is that usually such complex alliances are believed to enable males to control particular territory or mates. However, Richard Connor and colleagues tracked 120 male bottlenose dolphins and found no evidence that these groups were formed for these reasons. Connor concludes that these findings suggest that the social networks of these dolphins  is ‘unusually open’ and may be related to the relatively low energy costs associated with travel for these dolphins.

The abstract for the original research can be downloaded here.