Dolphins in Baltic Sea – First Time In 200 Years

Posted by: Loren Coleman on August 19th, 2007

Add another one to this wild week of unusual animal sightings.

Warsaw, Poland — Two dolphins frolicking near the Polish Baltic Sea port of Gdynia at the weekend thrilled Polish marine biologists, who say dolphins were last seen in the area more than two centuries ago.

“Our records show dolphin sightings in this area in the 17th and 19th Centuries, so this really is a special event,” Professor Krzysztof Sikora, head of Gdansk University’s marine biology station on the Baltic’s Hel peninsula.

Sikora identified the creatures as common dolphins and urged pleasure boaters and commercial shippers to keep their eyes peeled for further sightings of the mammals.

Sightings of species have increased in recent years owing to the rise in the number of pleasure craft and the prevalence of mobile phones with cameras, Sikora said speaking via a mobile phone from a boat off the coast of the Hel peninsula.

Sikora was, however, at a loss to explain why the dolphins ventured into the Baltic. Rare sighting of dolphins in Baltic thrills Polish biologists, Digital Journal Staff in Environment, August 19, 2007; Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.


6 Responses to “Dolphins in Baltic Sea – First Time In 200 Years”

  1. MissSongwriter responds:

    How wonderful is that! Very neat.

  2. shumway10973 responds:

    That is soooooooo awesome! Although I do believe that has something to do with waters changing either temperature or directions (currents). Dolphins, last I heard, usually stick to nicer waters (temperature wise), but if the currents changed, even for just a little while, and their favorite food ventured that way–the dolphins are sure to follow.

  3. DavidFullam responds:

    All I can say is “HELL YEAH!”

  4. sschaper responds:

    Climate cycling. I wonder if the herring will switch back to the other side of Denmark again. The last time they switched, it brought down the Hansa.

  5. shimmeringsoul responds:

    I seem to think the same about the whole temperature change thing…was any of that mentioned by someone in that area after all these recent sightings?

  6. Alligator responds:

    Is it climate change or could it be better conservation practices over the years allowing dolphins to return? That region had experienced overfishing, major actions in two world wars and some of the heaviest commercial shipping and industrialization in east Europe, none of which were conducive to dolphin habitat or longevity.

    But it is good they are they there. Too bad we can no longer say the same about the Yangtze River dolphin.

Sorry. Comments have been closed.

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