Bottlenose dolphins were spotted off New Quay pier last week.

Cardigan Bay is famous for hosting one of Europe’s largest semi-resident populations of bottlenose dolphins and some people will have been lucky enough to see them in their own backyard. Other people flock to the area to witness the magnificent creatures close to shore, particularly from New Quay, and the dolphins are an important economic asset to local business people in the region.

Sea Watch Foundation is a UK-wide charity that monitors dolphins as well as whales and porpoises, and for 15years it has chosen to have an office base in New Quay.

This winter, however, heralded a surprise visit from a species usually seen in deeper waters - the short-beaked common dolphin. Despite its name, residents of Ceredigion are much more likely to see a bottlenose dolphin from the county’s shore as that species tends to have the more coastal distribution. Common dolphins usually aggregate in large groups and can be found in waters exceeding 50 metres depth such as in the nearby Celtic Deep off Pembrokeshire.

Sea Watch was first alerted some months ago to this unusual sighting by local business owner, Ken Pilkington, of the Dolphin Gallery in New Quay. Ken has seen this colourful species, with yellow and white hourglass patterning on its flanks most days since December 28 and he first contacted the research charity about its presence using its online sightings form. Since then, the charity has continued to receive reports of this solitary common dolphin from other local observers.

“What will the common dolphin do when the bottlenose dolphins return, people ask me’” said Kathy James, Sightings Officer for Sea Watch Foundation. “The truth is that we can’t be sure! We would love to see this elegant and unusual New Quay resident spend its life in the bay, but there are high expectations that its larger cousins will not tolerate its presence. We’ll have to wait and see."

In recent weeks, locals have also been reporting sightings of bottlenose dolphins in the bay, and these sightings are likely to increase week on week into the summer as the dolphins return and the mothers come to the sheltered bay for its protection for them and their young.

Each year, Sea Watch Foundation recruits the help of voluntary interns from all around the world to help with this important research in Cardigan Bay.

“Now is a great time to come to New Quay to observe its wildlife. You might get to witness some really interesting interactions between the two species,” added Kathy.

Sea Watch Foundation monitors whales, dolphins and porpoises all over the UK. Using their huge data set, they are able to inform policy on how best to conserve these species given all the changes happening around our coasts. Sea Watch was instrumental in the designation of two Special Areas of Conservation within Cardigan Bay, and utilises public sightings to help it achieve such goals.

Sightings of whales, dolphins and porpoises can be submitted online at www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk/sightingsform/.