Bottlenose dolphin born in Aberdeen harbour

‘The mother was swimming in small circles - sometimes lying on its side'

June 2011: A chance early morning stroll for experienced dolphin watcher Kevin Hepworth saw him witness an event which few have seen before in the UK - the birth of a bottlenose dolphin in the wild.

NEW ARRIVAL: A bottlenose dolphin and her calf

Kevin, who works as a subsurface technologist for BP, had arrived very early for a business meeting and decided to go down to Aberdeen Harbour while he waited for it to begin.

As a regional co-ordinator for the marine research charity Sea Watch, he is used to recording the whales, dolphins and porpoises he sees, but never dreamt that his unscheduled stopoff at the coast would result in anything extraordinary.

He said: ‘I had left home early to avoid traffic and had some time to spare. I went to Aberdeen Harbour entrance and spotted ten to 12 bottlenose dolphins and then walked around the corner to the lighthouse at Girdleness to have a wider view of the coast.

‘Suddenly I saw a calf surface'
'As I watched, there were a few groups of harbour porpoises in various locations and, at about a mile out to sea, a minke whale surfaced a couple of times.

‘My eye was then attracted to a single bottlenose dolphin which, for half an hour or so, was swimming in small circles, or sometimes lying on its side on the surface. It struck me as strange since the other bottlenose dolphins were round the corner in the harbour.

‘It was also unusual because harbour porpoises often move away when the bottlenose dolphins come in, but those within a 400-500 metre distance of this dolphin were completely unconcerned.'

GIVEAWAY STRIPES: The foetal folds on newly born dolphin calves can be clearly seen

‘You could see where it had been folded into its mother's womb'
Kevin's initial fears that the dolphin was injured, were quickly allayed. ‘My first thought was that this bottlenose dolphin was ill or injured, and then I suddenly saw a calf surface. It was very small with pale foetal stripes from where it had been folded in its mother's womb.

‘For the first 15 minutes or so, its fin seemed to be lying at an angle. We have a number of adolescent dolphins in the harbour with crooked fins, probably caused by a spinal deformity which could be genetic, so I thought this might be a very young relation.

‘But, after a while, the fin straightened out and the calf continued to surface and swim with its mother.'

‘This is fantastic news for Scotland's bottlenose population'
Sea Watch Research Director Dr Peter Evans said: ‘It certainly sounds as though Kevin has witnessed a birth. He is an experienced watcher and I am sure that he would have noticed a young calf with its mother if it had been born earlier since calves need to come up for air very frequently . he fact that its fin was still straightening out shows that this was a very recent birth. 

‘All live births are extremely good news for the local bottlenose dolphin population. Aberdeen dolphins spend a lot of their time also in the Moray Firth. This East Scottish population has been estimated by Aberdeen University to number around 195 individuals, and appears to be more or less stable over the past 20 years. Sometimes, dolphins are helped by others within their group who take on a "midwife'" role during a birth, but it sounds as though this dolphin was giving birth alone.

See for yourself
The Sea Watch Foundation runs the annual National Whale and Dolphin Watch which this summer celebrates ten years. Kevin Hepworth is among volunteers running land based watches. He will be holding watches on August 5 at Bullers of Buchan, Aberdeenshire, and at Girdleness, Aberdeenshire on August 7.

Everyone is free to go along and join Kevin or other watchers along the UK coast, to join boat operators, or to send in their own sightings. For details of how to take part go to  www.seawatchfoundation.org.uk and follow the national Whale and Dolphin Watch links.