CLEAR blue skies and a pod of dolphins playing in calm waters. This may sound like a scene in the Mediterranean, but it could easily be witnessed along the coastline of Dorset.

Just last week a pod of between 12-15 dolphins were sighted off Mudeford Beach and again around Poole and there was a third amazing encounter this Tuesday.

Our Jurassic coastline is famous for its geological history and housing an array of wonderful creatures but with the Sea Watch Foundation estimating that there have been ten sightings of dolphins this month alone, it may be a more popular home for marine wildlife than most may have realised.

The dolphins leaping and playing off Bournemouth and Poole on Tuesday

It is not just dolphins either – but seahorses, rare corals, marine worms and even basking sharks are frequently spotted.

In the light of this, a group is being launched to help safeguard the regions underground habitats.

The Dorset Marine Conservation Zone Group is a joint initiative of Finding Sanctuary and the Dorset Coast Forum and will plan ‘zones’ to identify what areas need greater attention.

Other organisations are also turning their focus to marine wildlife and a study into the lives of seahorses has already begun in Studland Bay.

But why is Dorset such an environmental pleasure ground for such creatures?

The shallow, clean and warm waters of Poole and Studland are what Nicky Hoar from the Dorset Wildlife Trust believes attract the seahorses, while Joana Doyle from Finding Sanctuary said that it is the diversity of the water that tempts the wildlife.

Joana said: “You have a mix of the colder water and the warmer water coming in from the Mediterranean producing a rich diversity where both warm water species and cold water species can find their first point of call.

“Subsequently, the South West is a very special place in terms of marine life.”

It is these rich waters that meant Nigel Bryant, field technician from Bournemouth University, witnessed a dozen dolphins while taking his students out to dive on the Swash Channel Wreck outside Poole Harbour on Tuesday of this week.

He said that out of his three dolphin encounters in the last 25 years this was by far the most wonderful.

“Usually you will just see a fin on the surface in the distance, but these dolphins were swimming right next to the divers and circling both them and the boat.

“One of the students put his feet into the water and the dolphins came up right underneath them.”

Dr Horace Dobbs, director of International Dolphin Watch, said that these dolphins are the residues of what used to be a very large population of the species that lived along the British coastline.

He said that the number of such creatures declined with pollution and pesticides but in some areas dolphins remained, “and Bournemouth and Poole are some of them”. This could be down to the amount of food available in these waters.

Dr Dobbs believes the dolphins found in Bournemouth and Poole are often bottlenose dolphins and that Dolphin Watch hopes the reduction of pesticides will help these to remain.

So while there may be a decline in the number of dolphins when compared to previous years, Joana from Finding Sanctuary said that the vast number of reported sightings is probably down to awareness.

Nicky from the Dorset Wildlife Trust admitted that there is still a lot to learn about our marine wildlife.

She said: “It’s amazing how much we don’t know about our coast, but there’s a lot of work going on to discover more and this will then help us preserve what’s there.”

In the meantime, we can only hope that this research will help to ensure a secure home for the wildlife along our coastline and that more wonderful creatures will soon be discovered.