Scientists studying Cardigan Bay’s dolphin population have been using drones to track the mammals at sea.

The drones have been used by the Sea Watch Foundation to capture footage, which you can watch below, of a pod of 40 common dolphins, including calves, off the Ceredigion coast, the first time this species has been filmed in this area, scientists believe.

While the main target species of SWF’s Cardigan Bay Monitoring project is the bottlenose dolphin, on their latest survey, the New Quay based team had a surprise encounter with some unexpected visitors, a large pod of over 40 common dolphins, and could not resist trying to get some aerial footage.

One of the scientists, Kathrin Lohrengel, said: “Despite their name, common dolphins are not seen as frequently as the local bottlenose dolphins, being more at home in the offshore expanse of the Celtic Deep than the shallow coastal regions of Cardigan Bay, so spotting them so close to the shores of Cardigan Island came as a complete surprise.”

SWF’s research assistant, Claudia Afeltra added: “It was an amazing experience seeing them swim alongside and interacting right in front of us.

"Some of them even brought their newborn calves within metres of our bow. It was truly incredible.”

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