Saying Goodbye to Cam

In every sector of the animal kingdom there is a circle of life. Young are born, live a productive life and then pass away. This cycle repeats itself over and over and has done so for millions of years. The saddest portion of this process is saying goodbye.

On Wednesday, November 23rd, I received a call from law enforcement that a deceased dolphin was located just beyond Collier Bay. I requested that he take some photos of the dolphin’s dorsal fin, that fin on a dolphin’s back, which he graciously forwarded to me.

I was able to determine by markings on the fin that this was one of our adult males named Cam. I met with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) on site of the recovery. Cam had already been pulled from the water so a close personal look at the dorsal fin confirmed that this was, indeed, our big male.

There were no visible signs of external trauma but a full necropsy by FWC will determine the exact cause of Cam’s passing. My input was that he may have died from old age. He had been slowing down considerably in recent months and our team documented that his teeth were worn to the jaw. Dolphins get one set of teeth in their life and they will wear down as time passes. 

With a lack of ability to grab fish and slower movement in the water it would be difficult to stay healthy. Cam was a fully grown male when the team first documented him in 2006. It is estimated that, at the time of passing, he may have been 50-60 years old which is a good, long life for a coastal bottlenose dolphin.

In addition to Cam there was another large male that has not been seen since November of 2021 and it is assumed that this one, named C. U. Jimmie, may have also passed of old age. An adult female, Rangle, also died last December.

We mentioned a “circle of life.” As some adults pass away there is the beauty of new calves born in our area. Three adults are gone in the last year, but ten new babies have been documented by the Dolphin Explorer study team in the same period. 

So, goodbye Cam. You were a big boy, over eight feet in length and weighing about four hundred pounds or more. You were an important part of the area dolphin study and you will be forever remembered in our documentation.