New research shows Risso’s dolphins around the British Isles are part of a single population.
Scientists studied the DNA of dolphins that stranded in England, Scotland and Wales from 1992 to 2016. The results showed that Risso’s dolphins found around the British Isles are a distinct genetic entity, suggesting they don’t mix much with other Risso’s dolphins from farther away and are genetically distinct from the closest populations in the Azores, the Mediterranean, and possibly the wider North Atlantic.
The paper can be accessed here
Photo Credit: Nicola Hodgins
