The 2021 National Whale and Dolphin Watch event organized by the Sea Watch Foundation involved hundreds of volunteers from all around the British Isles, and it ran between 24th July and 1st August.
At the moment of writing a total of 1,248 sightings have been submitted after the 9-day event and sightings continue to stream in.
England has recorded the highest number of sightings (n=553), closely followed by Scotland (n=423), then Wales (n=264). Eight sightings were recorded in Northern Ireland.
For more information about sightings reported region by region, check our regional summaries!
To know more about the best sightings recorded around the west coast of Scotland during NWDW, click here!
Eleven cetacean species (minke whale, bottlenose dolphin, humpback whale, harbour porpoise, orca, common dolphin, Risso’s dolphin, Atlantic white-side and white-beaked dolphin, Sowerby’s beaked whale, striped dolphin) were recorded, and five non-cetacean species (common seal, grey seal, basking shark, sunfish, Tuna sp.)
Fifty-one collaborating organizations have joined this year’s event with hundreds of volunteer observers involved in land and boat-watches.
Very special thanks go to Rip Curl, Made of Sundays, Williams Art, the Felt Meadow, the Heron on the Roof, Falcon Boats, Giuditta Migiani, Fabio Santoro, Newquay Sea Safaris and Fishing, Padstow Sealife Safaris, Lee Renée Jewellery, who sponsored the 2021 event by donating twenty-one free gifts for the participants.
All the verified sightings so far can be viewed on line where they are updated as more reports come in.
Sponsors have also donated amazing prizes for people who are returning their recording forms after conducting watches during NWDW.
