![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/a-grey-seal-is-suspected-of-killing-a-dolphin-off-the-welsh-coast-marking-the-first-such-fatal-attac.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nA grey seal is suspected of killing a dolphin off the Welsh coast, marking the first such fatal attack recorded in these waters. <\/p>\n
The common dolphin’s body washed ashore on Newgale beach in Pembrokeshire in late February, bearing telltale corkscrew-shaped wounds across its midsection.<\/p>\n
Marine investigators believe a seal used its razor-sharp teeth to strip away the blubber, leaving the animal’s internal organs exposed. <\/p>\n
The attack is thought to have been carried out by grey seals operating in waters stretching from Wales to the south-west coast of England.<\/p>\n
This incident follows a January sighting of a common dolphin trapped in a grey seal’s jaws in the Irish Sea near Dublin, along with two further suspected attacks off Devon late last year.<\/p>\n
Scientists have now identified 20 individual seals responsible for such attacks across the British Isles, recognising them by their distinctive facial scars. <\/p>\n
Researchers believe these predators may be passing on their hunting techniques to one another.<\/p>\n
“I suspect it will be taught,” said Mat Westfield, co-ordinator at Marine Environmental Monitoring.<\/p>\n
A grey seal is suspected of killing a dolphin off the Welsh coast, marking the first such fatal attack recorded in these waters<\/p>\n
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“I think it will be a slow process, but we will see more and more of it.”<\/p>\n
The actual number of seals engaging in this behaviour is likely far higher than currently documented. <\/p>\n
Dr Izzy Langley, a researcher at the University of St Andrews, described the known figure as a “major underestimate”, noting that offending animals have been spotted as far afield as northern Germany across the North Sea.<\/p>\n
Grey seal populations in British waters have undergone a remarkable recovery over the past century. <\/p>\n
Numbers plummeted to approximately 500 animals in the early 1900s due to hunting, but have since surged to around 120,000 today.<\/p>\n
Experts believe male seals may have acquired their appetite for dolphin flesh through cannibalistic behaviour. <\/p>\n
During the breeding season from September to January, bulls fast while competing for mates with females who have just weaned their young.<\/p>\n
Research suggests these males have begun feeding on seal pups to sustain themselves, tearing off strips of energy-rich blubber rather than consuming the entire animal. <\/p>\n
A decade-long Scottish study found cases of grey seal cannibalism nearly tripled between 2015 and 2016, with this behaviour first documented in Nova Scotia in 1992.<\/p>\n
Despite being considerably faster swimmers than seals, dolphins may not have developed an instinctive wariness of these predators, making them vulnerable to ambush. <\/p>\n
The situation has been compounded by a dramatic increase in common dolphin numbers off the Welsh coastline, with sightings rising eightfold over the past eight years, according to Sea Trust Wales.<\/p>\n
Commercial fishing operations have depleted fish stocks further offshore, pushing dolphins into shallower coastal waters in search of food. <\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/a-decade-long-scottish-study-found-cases-of-grey-seal-cannibalism-nearly-tripled-between-2015-and-20.jpeg\")
A decade-long Scottish study found cases of grey seal cannibalism nearly tripled between 2015 and 2016, with this behaviour first documented in Nova Scotia in 1992<\/p>\n
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GETTY<\/p>\n
Trapped between cliffs and beaches, these intelligent creatures become easy prey for opportunistic seals.<\/p>\n
“It’s like entering a fast food restaurant” for them, said Dr Sophie Brasseur, a marine mammal expert at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
Dr Lonneke L IJsseldijk, a marine mammal researcher at Utrecht University, noted another consequence of the shift from hunting smaller porpoises to larger dolphins.<\/p>\n
She suggested it showed “the adaptive and explorative behaviour of grey seals”. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A grey seal is suspected of killing a dolphin off the Welsh coast, marking the first such fatal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367318,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[60326,111,43,139,69,147,51066,1491,406],"class_list":{"0":"post-367317","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-across-the-uk","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-sgg","15":"tag-wales","16":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}