Short-beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis)

OTHER NAMES: Common Dolphin
Latin Etymology: Delphinus ("dolphin") delphis ("dolphin")

Adult Short-beaked Common Dolphib (Delphinus delphis) at The Lizard, Cornwall - September 2020

Featured Subspecies: Delphinus delphis delphis
Weight: 100-136kg  /  Length: 1.5-2.7m
UK STATUS NOT EVALUATED/ IUCN Red List: Least Concern 

Between them, the two species of Common Dolphin are the most abundant cetaceans in the world with an estimated 6 million individuals.  The two species relationship to each other is somewhat disputed, with current suggestions being they hold a more taxonomically complicated relationship to each other than originally thought. They are an incredibly social species, where I saw numerous groups of individuals together, they have been recorded coming together in hundreds and even thousands.

Related Species:
ORDER: Artiodactyla
Family: Delphinidae
Genus: Delphinus
SUBSPECIES: D. d. delphis, D. d. ponticus

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - A locally common species on the coast

 - Several pods seen on a boat trip off The Lizard, Cornwall, 

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)

OTHER NAMES: Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin
Latin Etymology: Tursiops (Latin: Dolphin) truncatus ("cut off") 

Three Common Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) at Flamborough, Yorkshire - September 2023

Featured Subspecies: Tursiops truncatus truncatus
Weight: 150-650kg  /  Length: 2-4m  
UK STATUS NOT EVALUATED/ IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Probably one of the best recognised of all mammals, the Bottlenose Dolphin is the largest of the beaked dolphin and widely considered one of the most intelligent animals on the planet. Modern research has split Bottlenose Dolphins into three distinct species, with the Atlantic being the one found in British Waters. A lively, social and charismatic species, they can live in pods of a few indivuduals to hundreds.

Related Species:
ORDER: Artiodactyla
Family: Delphinidae
Genus: Tursiops
SUBSPECIES: T. t. truncatus,  t. ponticus, T. t. gephyreus

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - A widespread if scarce coastal species
 - Two pods een at Flamborough in September 2023

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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