Bottlenose dolphins have been discovered living permanently off the Cornish coast.
The 28 dolphins are the first resident population of the species confirmed to be living in English waters. It may result in measures to protect the animals, which can leap 16 feet out of the water and perform complex tricks.
Rebecca Dudley of the University of Plymouth, analysed almost 4,000 sightings and photographs from the southwest between 2007 and 2016. She identified 98 individual bottlenose dolphins and was able to define a distinct group of 28 that were resident throughout the year.
The sightings were concentrated around Mount’s Bay and St Ives Bay in west Cornwall but the dolphins were also occasionally spotted off Devon and Dorset.
Bottlenose dolphins can be recognised by their