\u201cWe started the study wanting to understand that east-west split a bit more, but using modern techniques, and what we found was just not expected at all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This isn’t just about points on a map. \u201cThe dolphin<\/a>\u00a0 populations can be split into two different ecotypes: offshore and coastal, just like we find in\u00a0orca<\/a>,\u201d says Moore. The two types have different genetics, ‘languages’ and social structures. The findings are published in the journal\u00a0Molecular Ecology.<\/a><\/p>\n Surprisingly, explains Moore, the dolphins found in Sicily are in the same offshore group as those\u00a0far away in the Azores. Yet, they don\u2019t seem to interact with coastal dolphins, despite swimming through their waters. “These dolphins have really high gene flow between Sicily and Azores, but virtually nothing between those dolphins and all the coastal populations they must pass along the way,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Local researchers had suspected that this might be the case. \u201cWhen you see them in the field, you can see they’re different,\u201d says marine biologist and co-author\u00a0Emily Cunningham MBE<\/a>, who is married to Moore. \u201cThey’re bigger, they behave differently.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Having data to conclusively back up this was \u201cone of those light bulb moments,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Moore believes cultural differences explain why there is so little interbreeding between the two groups. \u201cIf I wasn’t married to Emily, the chances of me getting a Japanese girlfriend is very unlikely because I don’t speak Japanese,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Another twist in the tale is that the researchers were only sampling dolphins in the Azores as an outlier group. \u201cThis was going to confirm that our Mediterranean dolphins were separate,\u201d says Moore. \u201cThere was no expectation at all that, actually, some of them could be the same population.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet, the choice of this location is \u201cgame changing,\u201d he says, because without samples from the Azores, \u201cI don’t think we would have discovered this.\u201d<\/p>\n Bottlenose dolphins are a protected species in the Mediterranean. Knowing that there are two different ecotypes gives us an insight into the different threats they might face in their offshore or coastal habitats.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Bottlenose](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bottlenose-dolphins.jpeg\")
Bottlenose dolphins are found in warm and temperate seas around the world. Credit: Tilen Genov<\/p>\n![\"Bottlenose](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bottlenose-dolphin-1-scaled.jpeg\")
The study found that bottlenose dolphins\u00a0in the Mediterranean are divided into two ecotypes: offshore and coastal. Credit: Daniel Moore
\n![\"Dolphin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Dolphin-biopsy-samples-collected-in-Sicily-2017-under-permit.jpeg\")
Dolphin biopsy samples collected under permit in Sicily in 2017. Credit: Emily Cunningham<\/p>\n