our local area

Cardigan Bay was one of the first in the British Isles to be designated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).The primary reason for achieving such status is its population of Bottlenose Dolphins. The Bay is also renowned for Harbour porpoise, Atlantic Grey seals and other marine wildlife, which you can read about here. All our trips operate solely within the Cardigan Bay SAC

In 1992 the Ceredigion Marine Heritage Coast was established to preserve the coastline and its wildlife. Following on from this the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC) was formally designated in 2004, primarily to protect the population of Bottlenose dolphins, but also to maintain the rich and diverse marine life, which includes Atlantic grey seals, sea and river lamprey. The environment that it protects includes caves, reefs and sandbanks.

The main objective of an SAC is to maintain its rich and diverse marine life in at least as good a condition as when the are was first designated, whilst bringing all designated species into ‘Favourable Conservation Status’. This is when a habitat or species is thriving through its natural range and is expected to continue to thrive in the future.

Covering an area of 1,000 km² and stretching out almost 20kms from the coast, the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC) stretches from Ceibwr Bay in Pembrokeshire to Aberarth in Ceredigion.

Meet Our local wildlife...

Cardigan Bay was one of the first in the British Isles to be designated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

The primary reason for achieving such status is its population of Bottlenose Dolphins. The Bay is also renowned for Harbour porpoise, Atlantic Grey seals and other marine wildlife, which you can read about here.

All our trips operate solely within the Cardigan Bay SACC

in the water...

Bottlenose Dolphin
Tursiops Truncatus

Cardigan Bay is home to one of only three semi-resident populations of Bottlenose dolphins in the UK and with numbers between 200 and 300 they are believed to be the largest population in Europe.

These dolphins are bigger than their trans-Atlantic cousins who swim in the warmer waters off the Florida coast. In fact, they are the biggest Bottlenose dolphins in the world and grow up to four metres in length.

In the waters just off New Quay is the best place in the whole of Cardigan Bay to watch them. During the summer the dolphins use the Bay to breed and feed. They can be seen nurturing their young and being very sociable mammals are often seen in pods tail slapping and leaping, or breaching as it is known, several metres out of the sea. They enjoy swimming alongside boats and can be seen bow riding effortlessly through the wake. When they dive it is usually for around 30 seconds before surfacing, although they can stay submerged for approximately eight minutes.

Female Bottlenose dolphins give birth to a single calf during the summer months and the young depend on their mother’s milk for up to two years. They tend to leave their mother’s when they are six years old, by then they are able to catch their own food, navigate their way around their home range and are adept at avoiding dangers.

They survive by feeding on a variety of fish including catfish, mackerel and salmon along with squid, shrimp, other crustaceans and molluscs. They are not fussy eaters and will adapt their diet to their locality.

Even though they have teeth they don’t chew their food, they simply catch their prey, bite and swallow! In the wild, Bottlenose dolphins can live to 50 years of age.

Harbour Porpoise
Phocoena Phocoena

Harbour porpoise is the smallest cetacean found in European waters and can be seen as the shyer, more timid cousin of the Bottlenose dolphin. Although often mistaken for Bottlenose dolphins, there are several key differences between the two species.

Harbour porpoises are less than two metres in length, rotund in shape with short heads and shorter snouts – or rostrums as they are known, and they have a smaller triangular dorsal fin than a Bottlenose dolphin. Harbour porpoises are more solitary than dolphins and travel in smaller groups of two or three animals but do occasionally form larger pods of between 10 and 20 mammals.

However, the Harbour porpoises in the waters off New Quay are rarely seen in groups of more than six. They are wary of boats and don’t bow ride, tail slap or breach, although you can observe them at close quarters from our boats. Towards the end of the summer, they have been known to approach boats, which is surprising because they are such elusive mammals.

They are sometimes affectionately known as puffin pigs or herring hogs due to the noise they make when they surface to breathe. They can dive for as long as six minutes, which is only slightly shorter than a Bottlenose dolphin

They feed off small schooling fish including mackerel, herring, sand eels, sprats and whiting as well as crustaceans. Being so small means, they must feed constantly to maintain their body temperature in the cold waters off the UK coast.

This puts them at threat from being caught as bycatch – getting accidently caught in fishing nets. They have a relatively short life span of up to 15 years but there have been cases of Harbour porpoises reaching 24 years of age.

Atlantic Grey Seals
Halichoerus grypus

Atlantic Grey seals surprisingly enough are closely related to bears! While their scientific name means hooked nose sea pig. They are often seen bobbing in the water or hauled out on rocks known as rookeries. This is where they rest, breed and moult. A male can grow up to three metres in length and a female two metres. They have a large robust body, short thick flippers with long slender claws and large heads.

Males develop a powerful muscular neck and chest with prominent skin folds and wrinkles. Females give birth to a single pup between September and December each year. Pups are born with white coats and are weaned for approximately two to three weeks, suckling three litres of rich fatty milk daily. This enables them to gain two kilograms of weight a day, after which they shed their white fur coat and are ready to fend for themselves!

The lifespan differs considerably depending on the sex. Males generally live to between 20 and 25 years, while the lifespan of a female is between 35 and 45 years. Approximately half of the world’s population of Atlantic Grey seals, almost 100,000, live around the waters of the British Isles and almost 5,000 of those are in Cardigan Bay.

They spend 80% of their time submerged in the water and can dive for up to eight minutes by taking in large amounts of oxygen and storing it in their blood and muscle tissue.

Atlantic Grey seals are opportunistic feeders, which means they will adjust their diet and hunting methods to what’s available. They mainly feed near the seabed on a range of fish including bass, whiting, salmon, sand eels, sewin as well as squid and crustacea.

in the sky...

The main wildlife attractions when you take a boat ride from New Quay harbour are obviously in the sea but if you cast your gaze skywards or towards the cliffs along the jagged coastline of Cardigan Bay you will be amazed at the diverse range of seabirds on display.

Don’t worry if you are not an ardent twitcher because our wildlife guides can help point them out to you.

northern gannet
Morus bassanus

The majestic Northern Gannet is an impressive sight with its spectacular high-speed dives into the sea when hunting for fish.

They feed off mackerel, herring, sprat and sand eels. With a wingspan of up to 180 centimetres this is the largest of the Gannet family. The buff-yellow head, white body and black wingtips make it a distinctive bird.

They nest on cliffs overlooking the sea or on smally rocky isles. The average lifespan is approximately 17 years but there have been records of them reaching 37 years of age.

Kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla

These medium-sized gulls have a small yellow bill, dark eyes and long black legs.

They can seem quite gentle in the harsh surroundings of the rugged coastline but safety in numbers means they can be seen in large colonies on ledges and cliff tops around Cardigan Bay.

They have a wingspan of 100 centimetres and live off a diet of fish, shrimp and worms. The average lifespan is between 12 and 15 years but have been known to live up to 28 years of age.

Razorbill
Alca torda

This medium size seabird has a wingspan of approximately 50 centimetres.

The Razorbill is black on top and white underneath and is easily identifiable with a white stripe across its thick black bill.

They nest amongst the lower ledge, ravines and crevices along the coastline.

They eat mainly fish such as sand eels but also feed off molluscs, crustaceans and worms. The average lifespan is 13 years but one was recorded to live for an impressive 43 years.

Guillemot
Uria aalge

Guillemots are one of the most common seabirds and are dark brown and white with a white ring around the eyes and a stripe behind it.

They nest in large numbers on narrow ledges or isolated sea stacks. Guillemots are a medium-sized seabird with a wingspan of 70 centimetres. They are excellent cliff divers.

They feed off small fish including sand eels and sprats as well as shrimps, prawns, crabs, molluscs and worms. Their average lifespan is 23 years but there is a record of one living to the age of 40.

seawatch foundation - our conservation partner

Our relationship with the Sea Watch Foundation (SWF) goes all the way back to the 1990s when we were chosen by the charity to be the original New Quay boat operator to monitor dolphins in Cardigan Bay. This is something we are immensely proud of and are still their Recommended Boat Operator today. The collaboration between us and SWF has been a harmonious and productive one for more than 30 years.

These days our boats provide SWF volunteers with unlimited access to Cardigan Bay. This means that volunteers can come aboard daily to record dolphin encounters and take photos of the fins to update and expand their photo ID catalogue and database.

Our boats offer a platform for SWF interns to learn their skills – how to collect data for photo ID and utilise the line transect method of estimating the population of dolphins. Many of our wildlife guides have been trained by SWF and their knowledge is unrivalled. Our staff also use the Sea Watcher app to log sightings.

In addition to volunteers joining us on our scheduled trips, SWF also charters our vessels to undertake line transect surveys. Here our boat follows predetermined lines that criss-cross the whole of Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation to produce constant data on the number of dolphins. These surveys produce some spectacular sightings, but it isn’t all plain sailing. Setting out to sea on cold icy mornings is not for everyone, especially when you can be there for hours staring through binoculars in search of those mercurial dolphins and returning to shore without spotting one.

Dedication and perseverance to the cause, however, does deliver results most of the time. Along with regular sightings of large pods of Common dolphins, there are Risso dolphins in the bay and breathtaking displays of Bottlenose dolphins. In 2024 the team had an unforgettable encounter with a Minke whale which circled the boat, as if to see what was going on, before heading further out to sea - there is a video available of this encounter. More recently a pod of over forty bottlenose dolphins was encountered in Cardigan Bay.

The survey has spotted an increase in the number of Tuna in the waters, and although this fish is not a primary species for the survey it is still an interesting finding. If there was greater funding for this worthwhile charity then there would be more dedicated survey hours undertaken, which would surely reveal other exciting discoveries.

We have been working in collaboration with the Sea Watch Foundation for more than 30 years. SWF is a marine environmental charity that was established to improve the conservation of whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans) in British and Irish waters. The charity was founded by Dr Peter Evans and Paul Vodden in 1991. Dr Evans set up the charity after establishing the Mammal Society’s Cetacean Group in 1973, which was pioneering at the time because it launched the first programme in the UK that involved the public in scientific monitoring of living marine mammals. Prior to this, scientific knowledge about cetaceans was restricted to research and examination of dead mammals that had been killed by whaling activities or stranded ashore.

SWF developed a more professional framework that aligned with the charity’s principles, values and goals regarding the study, research and conservation of whales, dolphins and porpoises.

The aims of the charity include the following: To monitor the numbers and locations of cetaceans to gain knowledge on the health of the marine environment and an insight into the threats they face; Involve the public in scientific monitoring; Raise awareness and understanding of marine mammals and the threats they face; Educate, inform and advise on improving environmental protection.

There are three SWF offices in the UK, with New Quay being home to their Cardigan Bay Bottlenose dolphin monitoring project and the base from which they launched a national conservation education programme.

The charity received an international award from the United Nations Environment Programme for its education and outreach achievements. Founder and now Professor Peter Evans is the director of the charity, and he has also been recognised for his work in this important field. The European Cetacean Society gave Prof. Evans a conservation award, while the BBC Wildlife Magazine recognising him as one of top 50 most important contributors to conservation during the last half century.

SWF advises the UK Government, international organisations including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), regarding marine environmental issues. The charity has a UK network of approximately 3,000 observers who watch, study and record cetaceans. SWF also carries out monitoring and research projects for Natural Resources Wales, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Scottish Natural Heritage and Natural England.

cardigan bay - marine code of conduct

We follow the Ceredigion Marine Code of Conduct to minimise disturbance around marine and coastal wildlife within the Cardigan Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC). This means our skippers have gained the necessary skills and knowledge to operate appropriately and responsibly in and around the marine and coastal wildlife environment. In line with governments’ Marine Wildlife Codes, Sea Watch Foundation and the local authority have developed Codes of Conduct to promote safe and sustainable activity that we abide by.

Recommended Boat Operator

As a Recommended Boat Operator (RBO) for the Sea Watch Foundation we are committed to sustainability whilst also providing reassurance to our customers that when they book with us they can marvel at the wonders of Cardigan Bay safe in the knowledge that they won’t be disturbing or harming the marine wildlife or their environment. As we are on the water all day every day, we also provide regular sightings data to support the monitoring work of the charity.

Operators that fail to apply these principles and don’t abide by the Codes of Conduct can cause unnecessary disturbance and harm to marine wildlife, which can negatively impact survival rates of species.

Ecotourism – what is it?

There are numerous definitions for ecotourism but one of the first definitions was by The International Ecotourism Society, who stated "Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people."

Since then, definitions have elaborated on that early, simplistic version to incorporate other elements including education, inclusivity, sustainability and conservation, to name just a few. Tourists need to be aware of their effects on the local environment and businesses that participate in ecotourism activities should adopt core principles that include the following:

Promote and implement environmental best practice
Monitor and minimise operational environmental impacts
Promote responsible operator and visitor behaviour
Have a low impact upon a protected area’s natural resources
Respect local cultures and traditions
Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts
Minimise physical, social and behavioural impacts
Delivering memorable, interpretative experiences to visitors while raising awareness