Skip to content
All articles
  • All articles
  • About whales & dolphins
  • Create healthy seas
  • End captivity
  • Fundraising
  • Green Whale
  • Kids blogs
  • Prevent deaths in nets
  • Scottish Dolphin Centre
  • Stop whaling
Dolphin in Brazil helping with fishing illustration

Dolphins and fishermen working together

Kidzone - quick links Fun Facts Curious kids Blogs Fantastic fundraisers Gallery Splish and Splash...
Gray whale (eschrichtius robustus) Gray whale in Ojo de liebre lagoon Baja California.

Why we’re walking for whales to save the world

We've got enormous ambitions when it comes to fighting climate breakdown, and so two members...
Dolphins with keepers in the new Windsor Safari Park. Image: PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo

Three decades on from UK’s last dolphin show, what needs to change?

The UK hasn't had captive whales and dolphins on display for 30 years, but it's...
Fishers' involvement is crucial. Image: WDC/JTF

When porpoises and people overlap

We're funding a project in Hong Kong that's working with fishing communities to help save...
Whale evolution cover

How did whales end up living in the ocean?

Kidzone - quick links Fun Facts Curious kids Blogs Fantastic fundraisers Gallery Splish and Splash...
Fishers chatting

Scottish fishers working with us to reduce risks to whales

Small changes to fishing gear could make a big difference to whales around Scotland, and...

Mindful conservation – why we need a new respect for nature

'We should look at whales and dolphins as the indigenous people of the seas -...
tins of whale meat

How Japan’s whaling industry is trying to convince people to eat whales

Japan's hunters kill hundreds of whales every year despite the fact that hardly anyone in...

Risso's dolphins caught on camera by WDC field team

WDC’s field team in the Outer Hebrides recently recorded this great video footage of Risso’s dolphins in the surrounding waters. 

Stomach contents from strandings data from a limited number of UK Risso’s dolphins shows that their primary prey is octopus. However, a recent report by scientists shows that the relationship between the observed distributions of Risso’s dolphins and octopus (Eledones cirrhosa) is not as clear cut as we might expect in Scottish waters.

Whilst it would make sense that important areas for octopus could be defined as ‘critical habitat’ for Risso’s dolphin, it has not been possible to determine that Risso’s dolphins prefer areas containing good numbers of octopus or use them with greater frequency than any other area. WDC believe that it’s most likely that this link cannot be made as the existing data are not detailed enough.

A larger Risso’s dolphin sightings dataset, including fine-scale data, is required to understand where this species occurs and especially where it is feeding. WDC is helping to fill this important data gap.

In addition to modelling the distribution of octopus, direct modelling for Risso’s dolphin habitat is required. As is the collection of more octopus and other important prey data distribution.

In the meantime, we know that the Isle of Lewis has always been one of the best places to see Risso’s dolphins in the UK. Our data is starting to show that the group sizes seen today are smaller than they were in the 1990s. MPA protection for Risso’s dolphins can’t wait for the collection of all this data – we have enough to be confident in this area of critical habitat.

If you would like to support MPAs for Risso’s dolphins and other Scottish whales and dolphins, please write a letter to the Scottish government.