An eventful weekend for the annual Cetacean Survey Training Course in New Quay

This past weekend, Sea Watch Foundation held its annual training course, where members of the public could attend lectures and gain fieldwork experience in cetacean research. Lectures covered topics such as the marine mammals found in UK waters, how data is collected, and the importance of the Sea Watch sightings network for understanding the distribution, behaviour and habitat use of cetaceans as well as implementing and maintaining Special Areas of Conservation.

Trainees joined us first thing on Saturday morning, ready for the weekend ahead. After initial introductions, the trainees were launched into the amazing world of marine mammals, learning how to identify them from their fin type, body size and other features. Survey methods that Sea Watch uses were also covered, as well as the use of underwater acoustic monitoring. 

Land watches from Birds' Rock and boat trips in Cardigan Bay were also conducted on both Saturday and Sunday so that the trainees could put into practice the techniques that were learnt during the lectures. Observers took turns filling out the effort and sightings recording forms, which provide valuable data.

The weather had been pretty dire over the weekend, but we were fortunate to still see dolphins on the land watches as well as the boat surveys, despite the poor sea state.

There was a mix of apprehension due to the weather conditions and excitement at the prospect of what we might see on the second boat trip of the weekend. The trainees and Sea Watch volunteers and staff boarded our survey vessel and prepared the equipment and observers for our search. Upon leaving New Quay harbour the conditions were really not favourable; the swell reached over one metre and the sea state left much to be desired. 

However, approximately fifteen minutes into the survey the observers spotted a group of seven bottlenose dolphins, one of which was a newborn calf. Thirty metres off the bow a commotion ensued and a small body was seen being flung into the air amongst some of the adult dolphins. Initially it was thought to be a porpoise that was being attacked, but after multiple observations it was confirmed to be the newborn calf. Looking back through photos of the incident and comparing them to individuals in our photo ID catalogue, Sea Watch staff concluded that the dolphin responsible for the calf’s aerial activity was quite possibly its own mother. 

The reasoning for this behaviour is not clear, but Peter Evans, Sea Watch director, suspected it was a form of scolding, perhaps to ensure the infant did not come too close to either a hostile male dolphin or to the survey vessel. Another possible explanation is that the behaviour was just playful. The calf luckily was seen swimming very closely alongside its mother from that point onwards, suggesting that the calf was not injured badly. The spectacular event was also witnessed by a volunteer and guest conducting a landwatch from the cliff tops of New Quay and from the harbour wall.  It was an occurrence rarely seen and one that will certainly be remembered by all of the trainees and Sea Watch staff.

You can read more about the encounter here in our news piece.

Overall, the training weekend was a busy, information-packed experience, but was thoroughly enjoyed by all those who attended.

By Kate (volunteer)