Common Name: Bottlenose Dolphin
Species Name: Tursiops truncatus
Size: length of body or more 150 cm plus
Depth: 25 m
Description: Keep an eye on the sea for these playful creatures - they may put on an energetic acrobatic display for the lucky sea-watcher. They are dark-grey and have a pale throat and belly, with their beak being rather short.
Grey Seal by Lawson Wood Ocean Eye Films is in copyright
Grey Seal (Halichoerus grysus) at the Isle of May, Firth of Forth, North Sea by Lawson Wood Ocean Eye Films is in copyright
Description: Halichoerus grypus (Grey Seal) is a species of mammals in the family true seals. They are associated with freshwater habitat. They are native to Atlantic Ocean, the Palearctic, and The Nearctic. They are solitary carnivores. Individuals are known to live for 560 months and can grow to 2079.47 mm. Reproduction is viviparous and dioecious. (Encyclopedia of Life)
Common Name: Minke Whale
Species Name: Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Size: length of body or more 150 cm plus
Depth: 25 m
Description: One of our largest visitor to the Reserve, the Minke Whale can reach lengths of 8-10 metres. They are baleen whales, meaning they have structures in their mouths instead of teeth called Baleen which they use to filter food from the seawater - in this instance food being small shoaling fish. Their dorsal fin sits low on their backs, and they have a ridge running from their head to their tail, making them fairly easy to distinguish from dolphins or porpoises.
Common Name: Wolffish
Species Name: Anarhichas lupus
Size: length of body or more 150 cm plus
Depth: 25 m
Sightings: 11
Description: The wolffish, also known as sea wolves, are a family, Anarhichadidae, of perciform fish. They are native to cold waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, where they live on the continental shelf and slope, to depths of about 600 m (2,000 ft). They are bottom-feeders, eating hard-shelled invertebrates such as clams, echinoderms, and crustaceans, which they crush with their strong canine and molar teeth. The longest species, Anarrhichthys ocellatus, grows to more than 2 m (6.6 ft) in length. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarhichadidae
Description: The Common or Harbour Seal is in fact less common in the BMR than the Grey Seal, and is also much smaller. Common Seals usually grow to around 1.5 metres, and have a rather 'flat' face - making them look almost dog-like! When on land they form a banana shape with their bodies by sticking their head and flippers in the air. Grey Seals don't usually do this, so it is another good way of separating the two species.
Description: Smaller than the Bottlenose Dolphin, this species can be identified by their distinctive yellow band on their sides behind their dorsal fins.
Description: The Harbour Porpoise is our smallest cetacean here in the BMR - much smaller than both dolphin species. They usually live in small group, and can sometimes be playful at the surface of the water.
