10 November 22: White-sided dolphin visits three countries

Researchers aim to develop a better understanding of the relationship between predators at the top of the food chain across the North Atlantic as very little is known so far. As part of an international study called TOPLINK, researchers from the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and the Faroe Islands have tagged four Atlantic white-sided dolphins with satellite transmitters. The dolphins were tagged with the transmitters on 3rd September 2022 in a Faroese bay. Two of the transmitters have stopped working shortly after deployment, but the others have reported data about the dolphins’ position for 35 and 44 days respectively.

After almost a month, one animal reached the eastern Greenland continental shelf. Another dolphin headed first to Norway and passed Iceland on its way back towards eastern Greenland.

“This is the first time ever that we’ve documented the Atlantic white-sided dolphin’s migration across the north Atlantic from Faroese waters to Greenland waters. This is also the first time it’s been documented that Greenland, Iceland and the Faeroe Islands share the population of Atlantic white-sided dolphins in the north Atlantic,” said Sara De Clerck, a PhD student responsible for analysing and collecting data to better understand the role of dolphins in the overall ecosystem.

Follow the migration of the dolphins here:
https://my.wildlifecomputers.com/data/map/

Find out more about white-sided dolphins on the NAMMCO website:
https://nammco.no/atlantic-white-sided-dolphin-2/