Scores of dolphins have once again made their presence felt in the blue waters of the Gulf of Corinth in recent weeks, specifically at its eastern end off the coast of the resort town of Loutraki.
Loutraki has been well-known in Greece for generations now as a getaway and holiday destination for middle- to upper-middle-class Athenians, but has largely remained off the map for tour agencies and mass tourism.
Pods of dolphins are not uncommon in this body of water, a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea to the west, as the maritime region in question is known to be home to a wide variety of fish and four species of dolphin.
According to Dr. Alexandros Frantzis, the scientific coordinator and president of the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute, the mixed community of dolphin species in the Gulf of Corinth is most likely unique worldwide. It consists of individuals from the four aquatic mammal species most prevalent in the Mediterranean: the common dolphin, Risso’s dolphin, the striped dolphin, and the common bottlenose dolphin.
