Sjæklen

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Summary
“Flipper” on a visit to Denmark – Flashback to the bottle-
nose dolphin’s (Tursiops truncatus) presence in Danish
waters
During the summer of 2015, two bottlenose dolphins (Tur-
siops truncatus ) were observed in inner Danish waters on
several occasions and at several different localities. Before
the dolphins reached Denmark they were sighted along the
German Baltic coast in May 2015 (Weißenhäuser Strand,
Fehmarnsund). After they left Denmark they were observed
off the Polish, Russian (Kaliningrad) and Lithuanian coasts,
eventually living for several months along the Swedish east
coast. Most recently, they have returned to German Baltic
waters. Besides the two bottlenose dolphins observed in
Denmark, there were at least two other individuals in the
Baltic Sea.
It is not known where the dolphins in the Baltic Sea
came from, but their origin is believed to be the geographi-
cally nearest population of bottlenose dolphins found along
the North Sea coast of Scotland and England.
The 2015 sightings of bottlenose dolphins prompted us
to review their presence in Danish waters over time. The
earliest evidence derives from archaeological excavations
from the Atlantic warm period some 6000 BP and proceeds
with further osteological findings up to the 1500s.
Historical sources have revealed fluctuating occurrences
of bottlenose dolphins in Denmark since 1548. Validated
observations of the bottlenose dolphins derive from reli-
able historical sources such as scientific illustrations, pho-
tographs, bones and DNA. The earliest confirmed record of
the species is from June 1844, when three bottlenose dol-
phins were caught off Frederiksgave in the southern part of
Lillebælt. All the skulls and one postcranial skeleton from
these whales are kept at the Natural History Museum of
Denmark, the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen.
There are historical sources for which the species valida-
tion is more uncertain – e.g. written sources such as news-
paper articles containing descriptive information. In these
cases it is not known whether the description was provided
by scientists or laymen.
Observations of bottlenose dolphins from other Bal-
tic countries also constitute documentation for the occur-
rence of bottlenose dolphins in Denmark. These dolphins
have presumably entered the Baltic Sea through the Danish
Straits. For example, bottlenose dolphins were observed on
several occasions off the Polish coast – the Bay of Gdansk –
in the early 1700s. The occurrence of the dolphins in Poland
is well documented by scientific illustrations.
Modern technology such as digital cameras and smart-
phones has helped to identify the bottlenose dolphins ob-
served at several different locations in Danish waters during
the summer of 2015. In future this technology will also help
interested citizens to make photographic identifications of
whales in Danish waters which can benefit scientists in their
research on the whales’ distribution and habitats.
Carl Christian Kinze (f. 1956)
Zoolog, ph.d. 1986-1990 leder for ”Projekt Marsvin”. 1994-
95 leder for forskningsbistandsprojektet ”Small Cetaceans
in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea”. 2000-03
leder af projektet “Fokus på hvaler I Danmark” ved Fiskeri-
og Søfartsmuseet og Zoologisk Museum. 2003-2013 viden-
skabelig redaktør og siden 2014 webmaster og redaktør for
hjemmesiden Forfatter til artikler og bøger
om danske, europæiske og sydøstasiatiske havpattedyr.
Charlotte Bie Thøstesen (f. 1980)
Cand. scient. i biologi-formidling. 2008-09 Lærer på Varde-
gymnasium og HF-kursus. Siden 2009 ansat på Fiskeri- og
Søfartsmuseet med formidling som sit hovedområde. Des-
uden engageret i museets naturhistoriske arbejde, herunder
”Beredskabet vedrørende strandede havpattedyr”
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