United Kingdom

Whale And Dolphin Sightings

Watching whales, dolphins and porpoises in the wild is a privileged experience and everyone has their own unique encounters with these amazing animals. WDCS collates sighting records of whales, dolphins and porpoises, collectively known as cetaceans, from all around the UK. At least 28 of a total of some 83 cetacean species known globally have been recorded around the UK.

Download the latest sightings newsletters: Hotspots Autumn 2012 |  Hotspots Summer 2012

Sightings are becoming more frequent as awareness of our cetaceans increases and it remains important to maintain a record of every sighting.  These records help us build an archive of cetacean movements and give an indication of the occurrence and distribution of cetaceans within our waters. It is only by increasing our understanding of these animals that we can effectively protect and conserve them. We welcome sighting records from professional surveyors and the public.
There are four essentials to remember in order to provide us with really useful records:

• What is the species - give the English name, and the scientific (Latin) if possible.
• Where did you see it - give a precise location, Lat/ Long or a six figure grid reference. 
• When did you see it - day, month, year. 
• Who saw it - give a name. If you did not identify it, also give us the determiner’s name.
  

How to Report a Sighting
Sightings can be reported to WDCS by in different ways:

• Using an Excel electronic recording form is a quick and easy way to submit a number of records using a simple spreadsheet.

• By downloading a single sightings recording form. There are two versions, a PDF form that can be printed and either posted or faxed to us, or an editable Word document the can be completed and emailed back to us.

If, by chance, you manage to take photographs of wild cetaceans please send them to us as well. Photographs not only help with identification, they can also be extremely useful in patching together movement patterns of some coastal species. Photo identification of whales and dolphins has been used all over the world to track individual animals and study group composition and associations between different animals. If you take a cracking good photo of a cetacean it could be very useful to look at any markings that could distinguish it from other the animals.

Send your sightings forms, and photos, to us by email to sightings@wdcs.org; or to this address:

WDCS Sightings
Brookfield House
38 St. Paul Street
Chippenham
Wiltshire
SN15 1LJ
By fax: +44 (0)1249 449 501
Excel sightings form
PDF sightings form
Word sightings form