BOTTLE nosed dolphins have been spotted and photographed in the estuary near Conwy.

They were seen by a yachtsman who had just moored his boat in the river.

North Wales Pioneer: The dolphins in the River Conwy. Picture: Bruce KennedyThe dolphins in the River Conwy. Picture: Bruce Kennedy

Bruce Kennedy, who keeps a motor boat in the river said: “I was returning to shore when I was given a start by the water swirling and heaving around my boat’s tender. This quickly turned to delight and wonder when the dolphins surfaced.

 

“It is humbling to see how large and powerful they are when you are in a small tender, that also took me by surprise. You don’t really appreciate that when you see them from a distance.”

Dr Peter Evans, a marine scientist who lectures on marine mammals at the School of Ocean Sciences at the University of Bangor, and Director of the Sea Watch Foundation, said: “It is unusual to see bottle nosed dolphins in the River Conwy, it happens about once a year. It is almost certainly because they are preying upon fish there.

North Wales Pioneer: The dolphins in the River Conwy. Picture: Bruce KennedyThe dolphins in the River Conwy. Picture: Bruce Kennedy

“We know mackerel are present in very large quantities at the moment and it is quite possible they have attracted the dolphins. We know there are quantities of mackerel off the east of Anglesey and in Conwy Bay.”

He added: “We have had groups of bottle nosed dolphins coming in the Menai Straits and into Red Wharf Bay. And Conwy Bay. But it is unusual for them to go this far up the river, it is the first time this year we have had this.

“A lot of bottle nosed dolphins come from Cardigan Bay, that is where the main part of their population is. We know a lot of these dolphins are from there because many of then have nicks in their fins which allows us to identify them easily.”