Why focus on common dolphins?

I’m biased……. I think common dolphins are one of the prettiest dolphins species. But, as a scientist looks don’t enable research.

I initially began working with humpback whales, and they still hold a specie place in my research heart. However, I began working with common dolphins when I completed my Honours research, back in 2007. It was during this work that we first began to document Tall Fin, Esther, Ragged Fin, V-Nick and Scroll among others, that would also be the focus of my PhD work.

Regular re-sighting of individual common dolphin is not typical for the species. With common dolphins typically occurring in much larger communities, it is rare that researchers are able to encounter the same individual common dolphins on numerous occasions. In Port Phillip, we have a small community of common dolphins, te community consisting of probably less than 40 common dolphins. So, why not learn as much as we can about them, and share our knowledge with other researchers across the globe.