Overview

• The Marine Management Organisation and conservation charities issued urgent warnings on August 15 after photographs showed a solitary bottlenose dolphin in Lyme Bay with gashes consistent with a suspected boat propeller strike.
• Official guidance under the Wildlife and Countryside Act reminds the public never to swim with, feed, touch or approach dolphins and notes that close interactions observed since May may breach criminal wildlife disturbance laws.
• Some outlets report an unnamed veterinarian examined the dolphin’s injuries and conservation groups have begun referring to the animal as “Reggie,” though the name remains informal.
• Experts say the dolphin’s spy-hopping, rolling and requests for belly rubs reflect curiosity and social-bonding attempts by a lone male, but caution that habituation can lead to aggression or fatal accidents.
• Charities are urging boaters to maintain minimum distances of 100–300 metres, adopt no-wake speeds and avoid encircling marine mammals to prevent further propeller injuries in UK coastal waters.