Dolphin watchers were stunned when they saw a group of mammals kill a small porpoise for fun.
On August 22, a group of nine tourists departed the West Wales coast at 6:35 pm for an hour-long sunset dolphin watching cruise.
As the dolphin-watching group returned to shore at Ceredigion, the group began to witness some action in the water.
The group, accompanied by SeaMôr naturalists Andy Walsh and Josh Pedley, saw eight bottlenose dolphins beat up the remarkably smaller porpoise as they approached.
The tour group stated that it was “morbidly rare” to be present at such an incident.
Passengers were shocked by the pod of dolphins that charged at the defenseless porpoise (pictured).
Dolphin spotters were with wildlife tour company SeaMôr when the eight dolphins mistreated the small aquatic animal (pictured). They describe the encounter as ‘morbidly rare’
The porpoise attack by the eight deadly dolphins lasts just under ten minutes (photo)
Brett Stones, 44, owner of ZeeMôrsaid, “Because dolphins and porpoises look alike, they went there, but they realized that the dolphins were actually beating up a porpoise.”
According to Mr Pedley, the deadly attack lasted less than ten minutes.
He claimed the porpoise “didn’t stand a chance” when the group turned to see the mammals charging toward the tiny aquatic creature.
At this point, all they could do was “burst out white water,” according to Mr. Pedler.
He told the Western Telegraph: ‘The porpoise has tried several times to use our boat as a shelter and to hide under us.
“It allowed us to watch the action in an unparalleled way.
‘At one point the dolphins got bored and we watched in disbelief as the porpoise next to our boat breathed its last.
‘This was obviously very sad for the porpoise.’
Despite having a reputation for being “cute and cuddly animals,” bottlenose dolphins can also be quite “aggressive.”
A porpoise is a small aquatic mammal, also known as a toothed whale. There are no less than seven different species of porpoise, all of which are threatened with extinction.
Mr Stones told MailOnline: ‘A bit of competition for food and the fact that dolphins are a bit mean is part of it.
‘Sometimes they kill younger dolphins to make female dolphins in heat’
The business owner, who has never experienced such an incident in his 27 years of running, stated:
“It’s quite rare to see it, but is it common? We’re not 100 percent sure. The ocean is so big that we only see a small part of it.’
Naturalist guide Mr. Pedley echoed this statement: “We have talked about porpicide and we hear about it, but it was talked about almost mythically.”
Recalling the reactions of those who witnessed the porpicide when they came ashore, Mr Stones said:
“It was a mixture of being excited, but witnessing such events can also be traumatic.
According to naturalist guide Josh Pedley, the porpoise breathed its last next to their boat
According to SeaMôr owner Brett Stones, some passengers wanted to offer the animal a ‘cwtch’ (hug) during the ‘traumatic’ event
“A few people wanted to grab (hug) the animal and offer it a refuge. We always choose the underdog.’
Mr Pedley told the BBC: ‘All passengers were fantastic, we had the right people on board’
The tour guide also revealed that people on board were asking questions about porpicide shortly before it happened in the flesh.
According to the team, there were mixed reactions to the incident on social media.
Some were left devastated by the unfortunate death of the porpoise. with one commenting, “Omg, how heartbreaking can nature be. I’m so glad I didn’t experience this, but I know it’s life.”
Another said, “So sad, but such is the animal world.”
Others congratulated them on the footage and said, “Wow, amazing. Thank you for this.’
Another joked, “Great photos, nature is both cruel and beautiful.”