Whistles and Clicks of Kotor Bay – Sian McGuinness writing for DMAD
A survey memoir from Sian McGuinness…
“New COVID-19 restriction meant that only three of us could attend (potentially) the last boat survey of the year. We set off from Zanjic and motored into the Bay of Kotor. It was a beautiful, sunny, but slightly chilly day and the bay was looking spectacular. We continued with our survey and travelled to the most inner part of the bay. Although this was where we had last seen dolphins, today we were out of luck. We headed back, resigned to a survey without a sighting. Yet, as we were leaving the three of us looked up and to our surprise there they were. Exactly where we had started. As we approached, it became obvious that this was a large pod of around ten individuals, including a new-born. We started taking pictures, recording behaviour, and putting the hydrophone into the water. The dolphins were clicking and whistling the entire time. After we had collected all the necessary data, we decided to leave the dolphins. However, we were all heading in the same direction and the dolphins, very kindly, escorted us home.”
