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Hungry dolphins attack researchers

Mon 11 Nov 2002

James Reynolds Environment Correspondent

BOTTLENOSE dolphins in Scotland are sinking their teeth into humans, because of a shortage of fish.

Scientists studying the behaviour of the mammals in the North Sea have been bitten by the hungry animals desperate to find food. The dolphins also are attacking harbour porpoises in the battle for food.

Professor Monty Priede, of Aberdeen University who has been studying the dolphins for ten years, said he has never seen them so vicious.

"The population of cod in the North Sea has fallen by half, and this takes away the dolphins’ main source of food," he said.

"This is mainly due to fishermen catching huge amounts of fish, so the dolphins are searching for other forms of food."

Researchers who have been following the movements of the creatures in the Moray Firth have been shocked when the normally calm-natured animals have attacked their flesh. Prof Priede said: "The creatures have a reputation for being cute and cuddly, but they do have very sharp teeth that can cause damage.

"Researchers have reported several injuries where the creatures have bitten them. They are predators, and when they are hungry they will feast on what they can find. We also have discovered porpoises and other sea life which has been attacked by the sharp teeth of a dolphin in a fight."

Researchers at Aberdeen University also claim the bottlenose dolphins are abandoning their home in large numbers to fight starvation. It is thought a quarter of Scotland’s resident dolphins have left the Moray Firth and have been spotted as far south as England.

In Scotland this year, they have been seen around Caithness, the estuaries of the Forth and Tay, Aberdeen and even the Outer and Inner Hebrides - including Barra and Skye. Dr Paul Thompson, a reader in zoology at Aberdeen University, said he believed that "at least" a quarter of the 130-strong population had now moved out of the area.

Prof Priede added: "The group of dolphins that lived in the Moray Firth area were very unusual. They had lived there for many years and had been communicating with each other and built up a special bond.

"Because they stayed in one place, we were able to trace their life history, and this was very interesting. However, they are now swimming further out to unknown waters to find food, which is putting them at risk as they may not cope with surroundings they are not used to."

The bottlenose dolphins can grow up to 13 feet long and require around ten kilos of fish every day.

Their diet includes cod, haddock, salmon, herring, squid and whiting - some of the same species under threat in the North Sea.

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