Bottlenose dolphins often listen for their next meal. While they eat many different fish species, among the favorites in Sarasota Bay are soniferous or noise-making fish, which include pigfish and toadfish. That’s right, dolphins, which are famous for their sonar, use passive listening to help when hunting prey. Building on ground-breaking work by the late [...]
Again in 2011, for a second year, the story continues to be calves, calves and more calves. We have followed up last summer’s 17 new babies with a very respectable eight newborns in 2011. It has been a decade since so many calves have been born into the population over only two years. 2011 moms [...]
January, 2012 In Sarasota Bay, the occurrence of a severe red tide in 2005 was followed by increases in dolphin depredation behaviors, declines in body condition, decreased abundance (through temporary and permanent movements to neighboring waters or disappearances), and increased mortality of weaning and newly independent calves. These changes in the dolphin population correlated with [...]
SDRP Director Randy Wells provides an interesting glimpse into the difficulty of mounting a highly successful dolphin rescue (below). Usually dolphin rescues are not nearly this easy. The life of a bottlenose dolphin calf was threatened by entangling fishing line. It was captured, freed of the line, and released 17 minutes later. The calf had [...]
The highest concentrations of PCBs ever reported in a marine mammal were found in the blubber of bottlenose dolphins near a Brunswick, GA Superfund site. New research compared contaminant concentrations of dolphins in three areas, including one with a Superfund site on the shoreline. Dolphins near the Superfund site had record contaminant levels, while dolphins [...]
To date, 9 calves have been born to Sarasota Bay resident dolphins, and 3 more to mothers seen frequently around the periphery of the Sarasota home range. While these are encouraging numbers, calf mortality averages about 50% during their first year of life, so we’ll have to wait and see how well they do. Happily, [...]
Calves usually nurse for several years. They may begin to eat a few little fish when they are as young as a few months old. Over a period of years, calves learn to catch fish on their own, and they drink less of their mother’s milk. One calf, orphaned at 14 months of age, survived [...]
Calves usually stay with their mothers for 3-6 years. During this time the calves must learn how to catch their prey, how to avoid dangers, and how to find their way around the home range. — Do you have a question to suggest for Fun Facts? If so, email it to info@sarasotadolphin.org.
At birth, calves measure about a meter (3.8 feet) long and weigh about 18 kilograms (40 pounds). — Do you have a question to suggest for Fun Facts? If so, email it to info@sarasotadolphin.org.
Recent Comments