A pod of dolphins that has been delighting visitors to Plymouth has been captured swimming along the river in an incredible piece of drone footage.
The video, taken on Monday by Lewis Huddy for Heads Up Definition, shows the pod swimming down the River Plym from Plymstock before heading south in Plymouth Sound.
In a Facebook post, Lewis wrote: “It’s not every day you get to experience these amazing dolphins on the way to work….especially this close!
“Following them feeding from the top of the river Plym all the way out to Plymouth sound was pretty incredible!
“Hopefully they stick around for a while so everyone gets to experience this!”
It comes at a time of increased sightings of dolphins around Plymouth.
The National Marine Aquarium, which is based in the city, wrote in a blog post last week that visitors had been “treated to the spectacular sight of a large pod of dolphins” over the last month.
According to the aquarium, the the pod is most likely short-beaked common dolphins, a warm-water species which research suggests has been pushing further north over recent years.
“This could be a result of climate change with the waters around the British Isles getting warmer or a shift in warm water currents,” the NMA wrote.
“It is possible that higher temperatures and warmer waters have attracted these dolphins and created the conditions for plankton fronts to develop. These would have encouraged fish, whales and dolphins to gather following their food.”
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