BBC News<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A common dolphin calf has been killed by four bottlenose dolphins in an attack that could become more common as the oceans warm, a cetacean expert has warned. <\/p>\n People on a dolphin spotting trip from New Quay, Ceredigion, were left “hysterical” by the incident on Thursday at 18:10 BST in Cardigan Bay, where the calf was thrown out of the water.<\/p>\n Climate change means common dolphin numbers are increasing in the area, where resident bottlenose dolphins will hunt them as a form of “play”, said Matthew Westfield from the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP). <\/p>\n It recovered the calf -estimated to be two years old – to perform an autopsy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Across the UK we are seeing more attacks where a bottlenose dolphin attacks a common dolphin juvenile,” he said.<\/p>\n A boat owned by Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips and carrying 12 passengers spotted what they initially thought was a porpicide – the name given to the deliberate killing of a harbour porpoise by bottlenose dolphins<\/p>\n The group included Ghost, a favourite with dolphin spotters. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Ghost and another dolphin she was with all of a sudden started speeding towards this larger group of dolphins,” said passenger Holly Williams, 35. <\/p>\n “They started jumping out the water and we thought they were just playing.”<\/p>\n They saw something being flung out of the water by the dolphins and initially thought it was a salmon.<\/p>\n The company’s photographer Sarah Michelle Wyre, 30, said they soon realised it was a common dolphin calf.<\/p>\n “My daughter was hysterical,” said Ms Williams. <\/p>\n “She loves animals and is very sensitive.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Dylan Coundley-Hughes, 22, is a researcher for the SeaWatch Foundation caught the attack on camera.<\/p>\n “These kind of attacks are so rare to see in person. We know they happen in the wild but it’s rare they’re ever seen,” he said.<\/p>\n Mr Westfield said the increasing number of common dolphins in the area mean more interactions with the resident population of about 250 bottle nose dolphins. <\/p>\n “Its not that clear why they do it,” he said. <\/p>\n The food the two types of dolphins eat only “slightly” overlap, he explained. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n “The bottlenose is probably the most intelligent cetacean we see on the Welsh coast.<\/p>\n “They are an apex predator with a huge intelligence and a lot of free time because they are so good at hunting.”<\/p>\n He said the attacks are probably down to “something as simple as play”. <\/p>\n They are also brutal he said, adding: “The calf was most likely with its family pod when the bottlenose dolphins separated it off.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Sarah](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/1bf1\/live\/42711170-1bcc-11f0-857b-eb33ba2b7b3b.jpg.webp\")
Sarah Michelle Photography<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20250409-091508-0ef9b7676-web-2.19.1-12\/grey-placeholder.png\")
![\"Sarah](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/4172\/live\/3dfcb8a0-1bd2-11f0-a455-cf1d5f751d2f.jpg.webp\")
Sarah Michelle Photography<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"CSIP](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/663c\/live\/76456340-1c47-11f0-8454-03622c874820.jpg.webp\")
CSIP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n