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An elusive dolphin has been sighted off Cornwall three years after being seen much further north in the Irish Sea. The rarely seen Risso's dolphin was photographed off Mounts Bay in Cornwall in June of this year. Scientists have now identified it as the same dolphin once seen 172 nautical miles away off Bardsey Island in Wales. The new sighting will help conservationists better understand the offshore habits of this enigmatic and strange-looking creature. Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus) are found throughout the world in temperate and tropical waters. They measure up to 4m in length and have a distinctive blunt round head. But the dolphins' preference for deep offshore waters means they are rarely seen.
"This is a fortuitous, unique and very interesting discovery," says Mark Simmonds, international director of science at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS). "Because of their typically inaccessible habits, relatively little is known about the biology or behaviour of this species and it is very interesting to know that those seen off Cornwall may be the same group as those seen in Wales."
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