Researchers are highlighting the rare sighting of a long-beaked common dolphin in Esperanza Inlet in the northwest coast of Vancouver Island.
The Marine Education & Research Society (MERS) shared news of the sighting on Wednesday.
According to a 2014 book by marine mammal researcher John Ford that MERS cites, long-beaked common dolphins are generally found in California, and the rare times that the dolphins reach B.C. mark the northernmost area that the species ever travels to.
“The sightings in 2002 and 2003 coincided with warm water conditions off the BC coast caused by a weak El Niño event, so it may be that warm ocean temperatures in some years cause a northward shift in their distribution off California, and some individuals may stray even further north,” reads the book.
On Wednesday afternoon, MERS said that another long-beaked common dolphin was spotted off Malcolm Island, near northeast Vancouver Island.
This second dolphin was spotted in the Knight Inlet area on July 4 by Seasmoke Whale Watching and is believed to be a different animal based on nicks on its dorsal fin.
Long-beaked common dolphins can grow to six to 8.5 feet long, and weigh between 160 to 500 pounds. The eastern North Pacific long-beaked common dolphins are the only population group of this species to live in the U.S. and they are not considered endangered, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The dolphins tend to live in large social groups of about 100 to 500, and feed primarily on small schooling fish – like anchovies, sardines and hake – as well as krill and cephalopods, like squid.
The most common type of dolphin to see around Vancouver Island is the Pacific white-sided dolphin.
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The dolphin spotted near Esperanza Inlet is shown. (Stephanie Lacasse/MERS)