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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...
Right whale - Regina WDC

Whale and Dolphin Conservation: Change Through Policy.

WDC focuses on education, research, conservation projects, and policy work to create a sustainable future...

Under The Skin…

We are into the bottlenose dolphin calving season up here in the Moray Firth and I often get asked about the discoloured, sometimes unsightly marks and blotches that often appear on young (and not so young) dolphins skin. These skin “lesions” as they are called appear to take on many different “types”, colours and shapes – both on adult dolphins and more noticeably on youngsters that have much paler skin. In the case of ID#1168, the not quite year old calf of ID#744 “Bonnie” in the photo below, he or she has lots of little markings here and there over all the body surface but there is a large grey patch on the rear flank that is more easily seen. This patch is already beginning to vanish compared to earlier photos as are other marks and so is the yellow staining on the dorsal fin and around the mouth. We often find that after a year or two the young dolphin looks much “cleaner” and we believe that skin lesions are not painful or irritating but are just something that these dolphins live with throughout their lives. Their skin has a tough environment to cope with – very cold water, differing salinities, sustaining tooth rake and bite marks from each other and collision damage plus bacterial infection too.  photo ID1168BonniesCalf.jpg Best Wishes, Charlie.