Skip to content
All articles
  • All articles
  • About whales & dolphins
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Fundraising
  • Green Whale
  • Prevent bycatch
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Stop whaling
The White Sharks and Whales Expedition

Short stories – first time seeing whales and dolphins in the wild

First time seeing whales and dolphins in the wild Bri and humpback whales The White...
Gretchen_flukes

An incredible first time whale watch in the Azores

An incredible first time whale watch in the Azores © Gretchen Gretchen D's story Off...
Gray whales from drone.

We’re taking steps to uncover the mysteries of whales

Vicki James Vicki is WDC's protected areas coordinator, she helps to create safe ocean spaces...
WDC Breach and Provincetown

A first time whale watch that led to many more

A first time whale watch that led to many more © Susan, a very foggy...

Another Little Mystery Solved !

Hi Everyone,

There has been a few days of pretty good dolphin activity (for this time of year) with around a dozen or so local, well known individuals including our own Sundance and Mischief coming in and out of the Chanonry Narrows searching for food. In amongst the adult dolphins has been one of my favourites – a lovely big female ID#732 “Tall Fin” and she still has a bigger calf keeping her company, young “Doyle” ID#1126. A few days ago Doyle, who will be four years old this season was deliberately annoying Sundance and to get out of the way of a good slap decided to breach beautifully into the air twice in succession. Although the dolphins were about two hundred metres away, my hugest camera lens made them look really close and Doyle filled the frame very neatly…

 photo Doyle Breach.jpg
ID#1126 “Doyle” breaching from the water.

In the following breach, not as nice as the one above – I managed to get some good, sharp and clear pictures of the young dolphins tummy (or ventral area) and after showing the photos to Barbara Cheney at Aberdeen University’s Lighthouse Field Station at Cromarty we have immediately agreed that Doyle is a girl, so another valuable member of this population can have one more piece of data put in her “passport” life history file. I love solving mysteries !

Best Wishes,

Charlie.