Hello and welcome all to our last National Whale and Dolphin Watch blog piece! Let’s take a look at the weekend highlights.
July 31th – August 1st, 2021
There were 66 watches today; in 13 Scotland, 8 in Wales, 43 England, and 2 in the Channel Islands. We’ve had a great start to the watch with 67 sightings reported (and more are streaming in as we speak) of 8 different marine species. Check the map below to see some of the sightings which were verified by our Sightings Team:
- Bottlenose dolphin
- Grey seal
- Harbour porpoise
- Minke whale
- Common dolphin
- Sunfish
- Large unidentified whale sp.
- White-beaked dolphin
We’ve had reports of a minke whale surfacing less than 50 meters from the shore at Point Lynas, Anglesey where our regional coordinator Ben Murcott conducted his land-watch today.
“Such an amazing species to see from the headland and one I have only ever seen from boat offshore” Ben
A sunfish was sighted bashing off Penzance by Duncan Jones and his crew (Marine Discovery Penzance) and on July 31st a large unidentified whale species was sighted off East Wittering in Sussex by Leanne MacPherson and her family. The videos and photos showed an large animal with a visible and persistent blow.
“We are thrilled we have seen it and as a family are constantly talking about it” the MacPherson
To see the full list of all verified sightings recorded during National Whale and Dolphin Watch click here.
Please remember to keep submitting your sightings online via our sightings form or using the Sea Watcher App before you submit your recording forms to nwdw2021@gmail.com. Remember that records of species absence are just as important! So please send in your recording forms even if you don’t see any cetaceans.
You have until midnight on the 15th of August to return your recording forms or let us know you submitted all your data via the App, for a chance to win prizes from our amazing sponsors! Go to our competition page to find our more.
Thank you to all our official partners who are greatly contributing to the success of this year’s National Whale and Dolphin Watch.
How you can support us:
- Make a donation
- Join our Membership Scheme
- Adopt a Dolphin
Chiara G
SWF Sightings Officer
NWDW Lead Organizer
NWDW Feature Blogger
