Commerson’s dolphins are mainly found in very shallow, coastal waters around Argentina, the Falkland Islands and the Straits of Magellan. Since this is the first time I’ve been this far South myself, I’ve been very much looking forward to seeing them.

I was not disappointed!

Their colour pattern is striking – and the white patches make them really easy to see, even through the greenish coastal waters.  As we wait on the ship making final preparations are made to leave, these wonderful little dolphins are regular visitors.  To readers back in Scotland who are more familiar with the robust bottlenose dolphins we have around the East Coast, these will seem very tiny indeed – they average only about 150cm long.

They tend to live in small groups – we are seeing them most commonly in pairs and threes – and feed on a variety of different small fish species. They’re a generalist predator.

I’m slightly wishing I had a hydrophone on this trip as it would be great to get a recording of them to hear how they sound.

Photo credits – Simon Pinder