{"id":145245,"date":"2018-06-23T07:21:10","date_gmt":"2018-06-23T07:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/dont-swim-with-wild-dolphins-warning-after-cardigan-bay-picture\/"},"modified":"2018-06-23T07:21:10","modified_gmt":"2018-06-23T07:21:10","slug":"dont-swim-with-wild-dolphins-warning-after-cardigan-bay-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/dont-swim-with-wild-dolphins-warning-after-cardigan-bay-picture\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Don’t swim with wild dolphins’ warning after Cardigan Bay picture"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"PhotographImage copyright Jonathan Evans
Image caption Boat skipper Jonathan Evans caught the incident on camera <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

People have been warned to keep their distance from wild dolphins after a woman was photographed swimming with a cow and its calf. <\/p>\n

Boat skipper Jonathan Evans witnessed the incident at Ynys Lochtyn off the coast of Cardigan Bay in Ceredigion last month.<\/p>\n

He described the woman's behaviour as "selfish" and "unsympathetic". <\/p>\n

Ceredigion council said people should enjoy coastal activities but not disturb special wildlife and habitats. <\/p>\n

Mr Evans, from Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips, took photographs of the incident before intervening. <\/p>\n

He said: "It was a family with two kayaks - a mum, dad, little boy and little girl... they were within feet of the dolphins. <\/p>\n

"The mum was in the water and was pursuing the dolphin repeatedly."<\/p>\n

Image copyright Jonathan Evans
Image caption Conservationists say approaching dolphins can alter their behaviour and expose both humans and dolphins to disease and injury <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He was concerned the young girl was also going to enter the water so shouted over to the kayakers.<\/p>\n

"We needed to explain they were in a conservation area and it was against the law to swim with dolphins," he said.<\/p>\n

He later reported the incident to the marine protected area officer.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • WATCH: Are captive dolphins 'happy'? <\/li>\n
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  • Rare attacks by dolphins on porpoises photographed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    "I have sympathy for the need for people feel to get close to these animals," he said.<\/p>\n

    "I'm not the person to be lecturing about visiting dolphins when we run a boat trip business but they probably don't know the rules and it's worth going over to them and explaining the rules. "<\/p>\n

    The Ceredigion Marine Code of Conduct asks water users to stay 100 metres away from dolphins and porpoises encountered at sea.<\/p>\n

    Under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 it is an offence to deliberately disturb cetaceans. <\/p>\n

    A spokeswoman for Sea Watch Foundation urged people not to closely approach bottlenose dolphin.<\/p>\n

    Image copyright Jonathan Evans
    Image caption The incident was reported to the marine protected area officer <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    She said: "While dolphins are charismatic animals, they are also large and powerful predators that have the potential to seriously injure a person.<\/p>\n

    "Persistent pursuit of dolphins can also lead to long term behavioural changes that can affect the survival of the population as a whole."<\/p>\n

    Ceredigion council's cabinet member responsible for economy and regeneration Rhodri Evans said: "Cardigan Bay's wildlife is a great asset to the economy of our coastal communities and is also important in its own right. <\/p>\n

    "It is because of this that we ask residents and visitors to enjoy dolphin and other wildlife sightings at a safe distance. <\/p>\n

    "Although the temptation to have a close-up view is understandable, we can't risk disturbing Cardigan Bay's wildlife and possibly driving them away. It's the last thing anyone wants."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Image copyright Jonathan EvansImage caption Boat skipper Jonathan Evans caught the incident on camera People have been warned to keep their distance from wild dolphins after a woman was photographed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}