Pod of dolphins spotted off Welsh coast

Stephen Jones spotted these dolphins from a boat and says he cannot believe the speed they were travelling at

A pod of dolphins have been spotted just off the Welsh coastline.

Stephen Jones of the Porthcawl RNLI, spotted the animals from his boat in Porthcawl, Bridgend county, and took several photos.

Mr Jones said he "could not believe the speed they were travelling through the water".

Mat Westfield, coordinator at Marine Environmental Monitoring (MEM), said this particular pod was made up of short-beaked common dolphins, which are common off the Welsh coastline all year.

According to Mat Westfield, these are short-beaked common dolphins

"The last few years, I've been seeing more," Mr Jones said.

"But this is probably the first time we've seen them from up close."

He added that it was "nice to see them back again", though he was not sure if it was the same pod he has spotted in the past.

The dolphins are common along the Welsh coastline year-round, but might be easier to spot in the summer months

Mr Westfield said these mammals could be seen off the Welsh coastline all year round, but sightings were more common in the summer months as more people were out to see them and the conditions are calmer.

"The two main species are the harbour porpoise and the short-beaked common dolphin," he said.

"Both are very common around the Cardigan Bay and the whole of the Welsh coast."

MEM has seen a fall in the number of harbour porpoise, but an increase in common dolphins numbers, he added.

But it is unclear whether these changes are due to climate change.

"We don't know if it's climate change itself, or just a moving species," Mr Westfield said.

The numbers of short-beaked common dolphins on the Welsh coastline are increasing, Mat Westfield said

There have recently been more reports of "out of habitat species" along the Welsh coastline, however.

The sperm whale found washed up at Porth Neigwl, Gwynedd, in May was only the fourth to be beached on any part of the UK coastline.

"They do like warmer waters, so it's potentially that the area they've been seen in has increasing temperatures," Mr Westfield said.

"But that hasn't been proven yet."