Charity issues 'welfare advice' to protect resident dolphins

A local charity has issued 'welfare advice' to keep our resident Dolphins from harm.

Mother and Daughter duo Moonlight and Starlight have become Island celebrities, first coming to Manx Shores back in 2019.

The Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch says despite being a pair, the Dolphins exhibit behaviours associated with ‘social solitary’.

This sees an animal choose to interact primarily with people and watercraft over living with other dolphins. 

It means they often display behaviour such as spending time inside our bays and coming amongst swimmers, paddleboarders and kayakers.

The charity says this can understandably elicit a lot of excitement from observers, but leaves them very vulnerable to disturbance, anti-social behaviour and boat strike.  

Sadly, two dolphins of a similar nature, ‘Danny’ in Dorset and ‘Nick’ in Ireland, were both killed as a result of being hit by boat propellers in recent years.

Meanwhile, ‘Dusty’ in County Clare has been known to ram into and injure swimmers which may have been aggression or rough play.

Jen Adams of the charity says “Moonlight originally hails from the Moray Firth and came to the Isle of Man in 2019 when heavily pregnant, giving birth to Starlight in the September.

Since January 2020, the pair have been on their own, and frequently enter our bays to feed in extraordinarily shallow waters within close proximity to the shoreline. 

Starlight displays strong ‘solitary dolphin’ attributes, approaching swimmers, paddleboarders and kayakers. It is vital that our local community is educated in what to do and what not to do if approached by these dolphins.'

MWDW has been working with Marine Connection and British Divers Marine Life Rescue to put together our Moonlight and Starlight Code of Conduct.”

It says the Manx community have a duty of care to ensure they are safe to enjoy our coastal waters for as long as they choose to remain here.

Under the Isle of Man Government’s Wildlife Act 1990, it is an offence to disturb any dolphin, whale, basking shark or seal intentionally or recklessly. 

If you have evidence of someone causing disturbance you can call the Isle of Man Constabulary on 01624 631212 and ask to speak to a Wildlife Crime Officer.

For more information on Moonlight and Starlight, you can visit www.mwdwresidentbottlenose.weebly.com or www.mwdw.net