Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch (MWDW) has been at the forefront of marine mammal science on the Isle of Man since 2006.
We work voluntarily year round to ensure the safeguarding of whales, dolphins, and porpoises (cetaceans) in Manx territorial waters through non-invasive research and public awareness efforts.
Moonlight & Starlight
Our resident bottlenose dolphin mother and calf
Report a sighting
Let us know what you have spotted in Manx waters
Become a member
Join us as a member to get more info and support our work
Dolphins, who we assume to be Moonlight and Starlight, have just been in Peel- seen 13:30-14:15 feeding EXTREAMELY CLOSE inshore before heading towards the old baths. Get yourselves out to the promenade for a look. It is very important to watch from afar and do not enter the water. Video by the lucky Jorden Hurst
MWDW is organising the Manx Nature Show, opening three weeks today. We would greatly appreciate it if you gave the page a like and share 🙂
*These images are old please read full post* Wow, we were blown away by sightings yesterday. So many of you were lucky enough to spot bottlenose dolphins and report them.![]()
Thanks to you guys we know there were two large pods, one off the west and one of the east. The western pod, totalling around 30 dolphins was first seen at Peel 08:10 and last seen at Smeale at 12:00. The eastern pod, which contained at least 60 dolphins, split into sub-groups, were seen from Maughold, Dhoon and Laxey between 11:00 and 14:30. Following this, one or two dolphins were seen in Douglas bay at 16:00, which I suspect was the tail end of the pod which had travelled further out by then. ![]()
![]()
So- we have a pod of around 100 bottlenose dolphins, which is not unusual for Manx waters during the winter and the Isle of Man is one of the few places in the British Isles that does see such large pods come together. We know that many of our winter bottlenose spend the summer in Cardigan bay, but due to the sheer numbers, it is obvious they are also coming from other places, and we suspect Manx waters are a winter meeting point for bottlenose from around the Irish sea and perhaps further afield. To find this out we need high quality photos of dorsal fins to match to other photo-ID catalogues. Are we not doing this already? It is so difficult, due to them being a winter visitor, the weather is usually awful and we are very rarely able to conduct boat surveys at this time of year. But YOU can help. Were you lucky enough to see them from a boat recently? Do you have any high quality photographs? Please email us at info@mwdw.net. ![]()
![]()
Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who reports. It just goes to shows what one calm day can do in terms of us seeing what is out there, especially during the winter months.![]()
*Note- the photos on this post are OLD ones to show you what sort of images we are looking for. Many bottlenose dolphins get naturally scratched and scarred making each find unique.
Recent sightings in Manx waters
| Date | Time | Species | Total | Duration | Location | Observer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15/01/2023 | 15:00 | Moonlight and Starlight | 2 | 5 |
Peel breakwater |
Not recorded |
| 14/01/2023 | 15:15 | Moonlight and Starlight | 2 | 5 |
Peel bay |
Jo Callister |
| 14/01/2023 | 13:00 | Unidentified Small Cetacean | 7 | 45 |
Outside Laxey bay |
Shane Stigant |
| 09/01/2023 | 12:30 | Bottlenose Dolphin | 5 | 15 |
2 km SE of Laxey bay |
Shane Stigant |
| 08/01/2023 | 11:45 | Bottlenose Dolphin | 7 | 30 |
Laxey bay |
Shane Stigant |
| 07/01/2023 | 08:55 | Bottlenose Dolphin | 15 | 35 |
Laxey bay |
Shane Stigant |
Online shop
Eco-friendly merchandise from the Visitor Centre now available online
Clothing store
Visit our online clothing store for unique T-shirts and jumpers