Conservation: Missing dolphin Yoda turns up in Denmark after 3 years!
- Published
A missing dolphin - named after a Star Wars character - has been found swimming off the coast of Denmark.
Yoda the bottlenose dolphin is part of a family pod of dolphins that live in the Moray Firth and disappeared in 2017.
But now conservationists in Denmark have spotted the sea-explorer in their waters.
It is common for dolphins to swim to new places, but Scottish researchers were concerned that they had not seen Yoda at all.
Yoda is 13 years old, which is quite young for a dolphin to have travelled such a distance.
Yoda the dolphin swam from Scotland to Denmark where he was discovered by conservationists
What are Moray Firth dolphins?
Moray Firth is an inlet of the North Sea, Scotland not far from Loch Ness.
Because the water there is so cold, the dolphins living there are some of the largest and fastest in the world, eating salmon almost as long as your arm! But when Yoda disappeared last year, no-one knew where he had gone.
In fact he had swum over 700 miles to Denmark. Conservationists there found him and named him Delle, before realising he was a Moray Firth dolphin.
Bottlenose dolphins live for 40 to 60 years.
They can swim around 12 miles per hour
They eat a variety of food - from fish to squid or shrimp
Bottlenose dolphins develop individual whistles to communicate information regarding their location and identity with others
They usually travel alone or in small groups - but herds of hundreds of dolphins have been spotted.
Conservationist Liz Sandeman is the co-founder of Marine Connection - who track and keep an eye on the Moray Firth dolphins,
She got a message that Yoda was safe and sound in January 2020, and that he had been in Denmark since October 2019.
Star Wars swimmers
Star wars characters Yoda and Luke Skywalker
He may not be a small green alien, but Yoda shares more in common with his movie namesake than you think!
His mum is called Chewbacca, his sister is Kenobi and has a brother called Skywalker!
Yoda's family are used to splitting up and exploring on their own or in groups.
Liz from Marine Connection says "just because he was spotted alone, doesn't mean he travelled alone. He could have travelled to Denmark with other dolphins and then decided to stay."
"Moray Firth bottlenose dolphins are some of the biggest in the world, they can grow up to 4 metres!" Liz explained.
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