The Sad Passing Of Gandalf

Last week, we were saddened to hear of the passing of one of our well-known older Bottlenose dolphin males – Gandalf.

Gandalf was found on a local beach in Anglesey, North Wales. After hearing reports and seeing the images, we were quickly able to identify him as Gandalf by matching his dorsal fin to our photo ID catalogue. Our Anglesey team, Sea Watch Foundation Anglesey , assisted Mat Westfiled of Marine Environmental Monitoring and Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme- UK strandings in retrieving his body from the beach to transport him to the University of Liverpool for a post-mortem.

Gandalf was first identified by the SWF in 1994 and has been a firm favourite among our staff and interns for years. While it is sad to find an animal we know so well, it is also very interesting to have such a complete record of his life, with sightings data and photographs dating back from 1994. His passing provides a valuable opportunity to gain insights into the lives of these incredible animals.

Again, thank you to CSIP and MEM for your amazing work and for responding so quickly.