Rare footage captured of interspecies infanticide by Dolphins Off Welsh Coast

They had been hoping for a nice day out on the bay. Instead, Dolphin-Watching Tourists in Wales Were confronted with the shocking and grisly sight of four adult bottlenose dolphins pursuing and killing a common dolphin calf.

The Trip, in Cardigan Bay, was operated by Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips and the Sea Watch Foundation (SWF), a charity that monitors the dolphins in the bay to inform and advise on their conservation status and protection.

Dylan Coundley-Hughes, an intern with the SWF, was on the trip, on which tourists go dolphin-watching alongside experts who are photographing and collecting data on the cetacean population.

He said: “While Conducting a Boat Survey on Behalf of the Sea Watch Foundation Aboard a Dolphin-Spotting Wildlife Tour, we observe intense splashing and dolphin activity. At first, we SAW something flung into the air and sister and sister, but to ours a conon Dolphin Calf, making this encounter an interspecific infanticide.

“I was filing for a personal documentary at the time and could not believe I had captured such a rare behavior between different dolphin species. It was both remarkable and heartbreaking to witness.”

The attack could have been prompted by competition for resources such as prey, experts from the SWF said.

A postmortem of the Calf will be conducted by the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Program, which may provide more information.

Katrin Lohrengel, who Runs the SWF’s Cardigan Bay Monitoring Project, said: “Bottlenose dolphins have a very wholesome reputation, but many people are not aware that male dolphins have been known to commiticide; they kill bottlenose Dolphin Calves. Killing Harbor Porpoises and often show aggression to other cetacean species.

“Both Infanticide and ‘Porcide’ are known to occur in cardigan bay, but we have never witnessed interspecific aggression towards common dolphins before. While it’s not surprising that this behavior is taking place, it’s very rare to witness it and even rarer to catch it on film.”

Bottlenose dolphins are common around the uk and are also often seen in the moray firth and off the coast of cornwall. Common Dolphins, sometimes referred to as short-nosed common dolphins, are usually narrower. They are highly social animals and are normally found in groups.