Cornwall’s marine life in abundance

It has been a record year for Cornwall’s marine wildlife, with sightings ranging from the Cornish bottlenose dolphin to the rare arctic bowhead whale.

Every year, Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Seaquest Southwest Project records sightings reported by the public. This year’s survey included more than 2,500 reports that helped build a picture of the distribution and abundance of some of the south west county’s sealife.

The project received record numbers of sightings of common dolphins, as well as the second highest number of harbour porpoise seen. It was also a good year for rarer encounters, including the first inshore sighting of white-beaked dolphins and the second sighting in 10 years of a ghost harbour porpoise.

There was a confirmed sighting of a bowhead arctic whale, humpback whales and three killer whales. Samantha Herbert