Dolphin Rescues

Nellie Leaps; note line between her flippers, which is wrapped around her head

In February 2010,  a nine-month-old calf was observed with line wrapped around her body in front of her flippers. She was the seventh calf of 32-year-old Sarasota resident FB25.

Dive Deeper to learn about Nellie’s rescue

The line was constricting the calf, forming a deep indentation into her skin. This threatened to cut through the skin, and it was potentially life threatening.

On the second day of a rescue operation, we successfully caught the calf and her mother in shallow water.  We removed the line and a piece of metal wire attached to it.

Nellie is held during examination. Deep laceration from tightly wrapped line is visible.

The calf, C257, was nicknamed “Nellie” in honor of Dr. Nellio Barros, our colleague who passed away in early 2010.

Nellie, healing well about a month after her rescue.

We released the pair together on-site.

Nellie been seen with her mother repeatedly since the release, and she looks great.

Mote dolphin hospital volunteer Connie Murk assists Ginger on Siesta Beach before the dolphin was moved to the Mote Marine Dolphin and Whale Hospital.

In December 2008, Ginger, a 3-year-old female dolphin, was found stranded. She was the newly independent first calf of  Sarasota resident dolphin F127.

Ginger was transported to Mote Marine Lab Dolphin and Whale Hospital. She was treated for gastro-intestinal and respiratory problems.

During treatment, she was only fed live fish (without humans in sight).  This strategy was designed to help her have a smooth transition back into the wild, and to minimize chances she would go to boaters and anglers for hand-outs.

Dive Deeper to learn about Ginger

Student intern helps with post-release radio tracking of Ginger in March 2009.

Almost 2 months later, she was released back into Sarasota Bay. Since then she has been seen often, feeding normally, and occasionally joining groups with her mother and her mother’s new calf.

Scrappy tangled in swim suit

In July 2006, Scrappy, an 8-year-old male, was seen tangled in a large piece of unidentified fabric.

Scrappy was temporarily captured, and freed from what was determined to be a bathing suit.

His head had gone through one of the leg holes, and the suit had worked its way back to the leading edge of his flippers, where it was cutting deeply through the skin on both sides.

Wound at the base of Scrappy's right front flipper caused by swim suit entanglement.

He was treated by veterinarians, and released.

Since his release, Scrappy has been seen often, and he has so far avoided any other unfortunate fashion statements.

FB28 tangled in monofilament fishing line, which restricted his movement and threatened his health.

A 42-year-old male dolphin, FB28, became tangled with fishing line. The line was wrapped from the dorsal fin to the tail fluke, restricting his movements.

In July, 2007, a rescue team approached FB28 while he was swimming, and cut the line free from the dorsal fin.  This freed him from the visible restriction caused by the fishing line.  FB28 eventually cleared the remaining line from his fluke on its own.

Since then, FB28  was seen many times with no sign of any lasting injury.

The white material on his dorsal fin is a fungal disease that has persisted for many years.

FB28 is one the dolphins tagged during the 1970-1971 pilot study that started our long-term research program in Sarasota Bay.