Featured Image Credit: Dolphin Spirit
By Jessica Kittel
Scotland holds a certain appeal to many people. Whether it’s the romance of the Highlands, the tartan clothing, the plethora of redheads, or the swoon-worthy accent many people just love Scotland. Turns out cetaceans hold the same opinion!
In the United Kingdom’s most recent National Whale and Dolphin Watch, Scotland had the most whale and dolphin sightings in the United Kingdom, as reported on home.bt.com. Forty three percent of the sightings that occurred during the survey were up in bonnie Scotland. Of the 6,500 cetaceans seen during the survey, England was a close second with 555 sightings, Wales came in third with 231 sightings however, and both were trumped by Scotland’s 608 sightings.
The National Whale and Dolphin Watch occurred between July 29th and August 6th and couldn’t have happened without the 2,500 people that volunteered to be apart of the survey. As with all citizen science, taking part in surveys such as this one is a great way to actively be involved in conservation efforts.
Harbor Porpoises were seen 697 times during the survey making them the most common cetaceans seen in the UK. Bottlenose dolphins were seen 224 times and were the second most commonly seen cetacean during the survey. Orcas (aka killer whales) were also spotted during the survey.
If you want to see some cetaceans, looks like Scotland’s a good bet!
Learn more from our source here.