Where are the porpoises?
Image from clicker-free-vector images at Pixabay
According to the Sea Trust, based in Goodwick, we seem to be seeing fewer porpoises than in previous years and there are fears that an increase of bluefin tuna and common dolphins could be having something to do with this decline in numbers.
Recent sightings by staff and volunteers from the Sea Trust of the tuna leaping out of the water close to the cliff at Strumble Head have caused some surprise. It is thought that a rise in their numbers and that of the dolphins mean more competition over food resources, which could be affecting porpoise numbers.
The Sea Trust has only been recording the tuna over the past seven or so years. Common dolphins have only begun to be seen occasionally inshore, mainly in summer since around 2000, but they are now being seen all the year round in larger numbers. There have been much-reduced sightings of porpoises –which used to be recorded in high numbers not so long ago.
The Trust has looked at what has changed in the area around Strumble Head and surmised that the incomers, having infiltrated the traditional hunting areas of the porpoises, are providing too much competition for finite resources.
seatrust.org.uk/about-us/projects-research
