Baby Dolphin Number Nine Brings New Records

It’s Tuesday, December 3rd, and guests on board the Dolphin Explorer have already experienced several great sightings of the local bottlenose dolphin population. As the vessel cruises west on the Marco River, two dolphin fins surface for a breath of air, one fin large and the second very small. The team has already documented eight new baby dolphins locally since mid-August and quickly assumed that this is a mom and newborn that they know.

Now, I don’t need to tell you the acronym for “assume.” The team was quite surprised when a photograph of the adult female’s dorsal fin revealed that this was the mom of baby number nine of our birthing season. The mom is named Manhattan and the guests on board quickly came up with the name for the newborn as Snook.

The crew, Marine Biologist James Livaccari and myself realized immediately that several records were being created. First of all, this was Manhattan’s first offspring. Secondly, Manhattan’s mom, KayCee, was now a grandmother. Third, KayCee had a new calf in August, and this was the first time that a mother and daughter gave birth in the same year!

A trifecta that would cause any science team to jump for joy was now in play!

Let’s talk about grandma first. KayCee has been a very productive lady. Her first known calf was Slick Joey, born in 2007. Then came Manhattan in 2013, then Sunshine in 2018 and her newest baby, this year in 2024, is Mattie. While many of our moms have a new offspring every three to four years, KayCee has been content to take some time off between pregnancies and give birth every five to six years. Just a preference by this lady to schedule her life this way. KayCee becomes our eleventh documented grandmother in the north Marco study area with the birth of Manhattan’s new calf. KayCee taught all of her young to feed along the sandbars where the Marco River meets the Gulf of Mexico. When these offspring left mom’s side, they continued to feed where they were taught, and it has been common to see mom KayCee and her offspring Manhattan and Sunshine still feeding and socializing side by side by side!

Manhattan has been seen quite often in the feeding area mentioned above. In fact, more than 90% of the sightings of this young lady have been in the habitat described above. The first sighting of Manhattan with her new calf Snook was only a half mile from this zone. It is likely that we will see KayCee and her newborn Mattie traveling right along with Manhattan and Snook in the very near future!

In recent years, the team has anticipated that a mom and daughter might both have a newborn in the same year, but it never happened….until now. KayCee gave birth to Mattie on August 19th  (James and I happened to be in the right place at the right time and actually witnessed this birth!) The first sighting of Manhattan with newborn Snook was on December 3rd. We had not seen this mom for several weeks, and Snook looked to be about one month old, likely born sometime in November. Nevertheless, this is the first documentation of a birth by both a mom and her daughter in the same year in southwest Florida!

Typically, the birthing season in the section of the world is September, October and November, although babies can be born anytime during the year. However, 90% of our recordings indicate births in the season mentioned above. KayCee was just a few weeks early of the season, and daughter Manhattan was right on schedule.

What a great find for the team and also for the institutions and agencies that receive our reports worldwide. There are several “main events” that the team anticipates over the next few years including our first know great grandmother. That could happen in 2025 or 2026.

Please stay in touch with the Coastal Breeze News for updates regarding info about our dolphin population. As our survey continues to collect data it is inevitable that new and unique findings, as well as changes in our dolphin society, will occur. Again, stay tuned and thanks to everyone for reading our column!