People urged to record dolphin sightings in Devon and Cornwall

Researchers are calling on people in the South West to help monitor the population of a pod of coastal bottlenose dolphins.

There are 40 dolphins in the pod, and they are known to range from the north coasts of Devon and Cornwall, up to east Sussex.

Researchers have asked for people to take photos and note the precise date, time and location of any sighting.

Conservation experts said the research was "essential" to protect the mammals.

Researchers said they hoped to establish if the dolphins had preferred breeding grounds, or other reproductive patterns, since the pod had not grown in size significantly since it was first identified in the 1990s.

Any sightings gathered during summer 2023 will help establish if calf production is taking place at a sustainable rate for the population to survive.

The project is being coordinated by the University of Plymouth and Cornwall Wildlife Trust, and those who see a bottlenose dolphin are asked to email their sighting to the South Coast Bottlenose Dolphin Consortium.

Abby Crosby, marine conservation officer at the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said the research was "essential".

She said: "Without this information and better protection, there is a very real chance they will die out and never return to our shores, and to lose them would be a tragedy."

Dr Simon Ingram, associate professor of marine conservation at the University of Plymouth, added: "If we are to adequately protect them, we need to know more about their behaviour and with such a large area to cover, citizen science is a great way to achieve that."

Follow BBC News South West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].