Starlight, the bottlenose dolphin calf often seen around the island with her mother, has been identified as female.

This comes following a photo submitted to the Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch (MWDW) by Dave Corkish.

She has been studied by the MWDW for two years but until now her gender was unclear.

The only way to determine a dolphin’s gender is by looking at the slits on their underside, females have one long slit with two mammary slits either side whereas males have two shorter, separated slits.

This can be seen in the photo.

Jen Adams, outreach and education manager of MWDW, said: ’It’s fantastic we know.

’The only thing that could be affected as a result of this is how long she stays with her mum as females often stay longer than males.’

Moonlight, the mother, and Starlight were first spotted in September 2019 and their story is being documented on their website, mwdwresidentbottlenose.weebly.com.