British waters regularly host seven dolphin species, of which two are large and predominantly grey: the well-known and much-studied Common Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus, and the far less familiar and less researched Risso’s Dolphin Grampus griseus. At a distance one might be mistaken for the other but, closer-up, the Risso’s Dolphin is highly distinctive.
The often overlooked Risso’s Dolphin is widely distributed in British waters, primarily along the Atlantic seaboard. Simmonds et al. describe the behaviour, distribution and conservation status of the sometimes-elusive cetacean.