They leap through hoops, communicate with clicks and are seen as among the most intelligent of animals.
But Northern Ireland’s first confirmed case of a killer dolphin early this year casts a whole new light on what are usually regarded as peace-loving mammals.
Scientists who carried out a post-mortem examination on the corpse of a porpoise found on rocks on the Co Antrim coast early in the New Year have revealed that its death is consistent with a bottlenose dolphin attack.
It’s the first such killing documented here, although similar incidents have been reported in California, Wales, off the Cork coast and in the Moray Firth in Scotland.
It seems that the porpoise may have been mistaken for a bottlenose calf — infanticide has been recorded among some bottlenose colonies in the British Isles, according to Irish Whale and Dolphin Group member Ian Enlander.
Source: Belfast Telegraph