21/08/2026
New research has shown that Fungie (the Di**le Dolphin)’s genetic make-up was a mix between the Shannon Estuary bottlenose dolphin population and the Offshore population.
In Ireland there are three genetically discrete populations of bottlenose dolphins: the Shannon Estuary, which is a relatively small population mostly found in the Shannon Estuary, a second Coastal population which ranges primarily along the Connemara-Mayo-Donegal coast in the Northwest of the country and an Offshore population which is part of a much larger group and lives on the shelf edge.
A recent paper just published in the journal “Ecology and Evolution” by researchers at in collaboration with the IWDG aimed to update our knowledge of bottlenose dolphin genetics in Ireland from individuals either found dead along the shores or sampled while free ranging at sea. Some solitary individuals including Nick, who stranded in Cork Harbour, Finn in Carlingford Lough, Dusty in North Clare, Nimmo in Galway City and Fungie from west Kerry. Samples of bottlenose dolphin DNA were obtained using a number of sampling techniques including recovering sloughed skin and faecal samples and from environmental DNA, or eDNA, where water is collected in the presence of solitary dolphins, or in their known habitat, and filtered.
To the authors great surprise, four of the five solitary dolphins were all from the Offshore population. Only Fungie was different – being of mixed ancestry between the Shannon and the Offshore populations. Many of the stranded individuals were also from the Offshore population which also came as a surprise.
The study was carried out by the late Lorenzo de Bonis as part of his IMBRsea Master’s thesis. Tragically, Lorenzo passed away in a rock-climbing accident while he was finalising this work for publication. The research team completed the publication process in Lorenzo’s memory and as a legacy to his hard work and dedication.
For more on this story see https://iwdg.ie/fungie-was-a-mix-of-shannon-estuary-and-offshore-bottlenose-dolphin/
De Bonis, L., Griffin, B., O’Callaghan, S., Daly, M., Maes, J., Berrow, S., and Mirimin, L. (2026) Enhancing intra-specific population genetic studies of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Irish waters by integrating least invasive sampling and environmental DNA (eDNA). Ecology and Evolution 16:e74035.
The paper is open access https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.74035 and also available in the IWDG members section at
https://iwdg.ie/members/research/
