Dolphin spotted in the Oosterschelde

This month an interesting animal was spotted in the Oosterschelde, a dolphin! You can regularly see the porpoise swimming along in the Oosterschelde, but you rarely see dolphins. According to SOS dolphin, it is a bottlenose dolphin. Watch the video of Omroep Zeeland here.

The bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is known for its intelligence. They are social animals that often hunt in groups. By means of echolocation, the animals finds its way in the water and communicates with the other dolphins. This dolphin probably lost its group and ended up in the Oosterschelde. Hopefully the animal has returned to the North Sea via the Easters Scheldt barrier, because food for dolphins is scarce in the Oosterschelde.

Marine mammals that we regularly spot during trawls or dike zoning in Zeeland are the gray seal and the harbor porpoise (the smallest whale that lives in the North Sea).