Porpoise spotted playing with dolphin pod in rare sighting off Cornwall coast

Porpoises usually steer clear of dolphins, making this an incredibly rare sighting, according to a marine wildlife charity. Credit: Terry Carne

A marine conservation charity has urged wildlife watchers in Cornwall to look out for an unusual marine pairing spotted off the coast.

In the past ten days, there have been two separate sightings of bottlenose dolphins swimming and interacting with a lone harbour porpoise who appears to have joined up with their pod.

Bottlenose dolphins often aggressively attack harbour porpoises, making the pairing an incredibly rare sight, according to whale and dolphin charity ORCA.

The organisation is appealing for marine wildlife enthusiasts in Cornwall to look out for the trio and see if they are still staying together.

The porpoise was seen breaching with the dolphins in the rare sighting Credit: Terry Carne

The charity’s Marine Mammal Surveyor Terry Carne witnessed the rare pairing on 2 March whilst conducting his daily survey.

He said: “I saw 2 bottlenose dolphins coming in towards land, which were the first I’d seen at Newquay for a long time.

"As they got a little nearer, I thought there was a third, all breaching, but realised that one was in fact a porpoise.

"I assumed that the porpoise was trying to escape, and when I saw it leap in the air I thought the bottlenose had struck it. But actually what I saw was the porpoise breaching with the dolphins, initially forward leaps, before seeing it jump high in the air.” 

Just six days later on 8 March, the same dolphins were spotted near St Ives, again with the smaller porpoise alongside them.

ORCA has urged marine enthusiasts to download its OceanWatchers app to log any future sightings.

Lucy Babey, Head of Science & Conservation at ORCA, said: “The pairing up of these two different species is highly unusual.

"While they share the same habitat, porpoises tend to steer clear of dolphins, so to see them playing and sticking together over such a long period is a really rare event.”

More information on ORCA's conservation work can be found on the charity's website.