Three More Baby Dolphins!

The 10,000 Islands Dolphin Study Project is the property of Dolphin Explorer LLC. The study monitors the travel range, social behavior, feeding habits, genealogy and overall well-being of the bottlenose dolphin population around Marco Island. The program began in 2006 and now has 17+ years of data regarding our local dolphins. The study continues…

From October 19th thru the 25th the survey team on board the Dolphin Explorer was able to document three more new baby dolphins in the Marco waters and is watching a 13 month old with an entanglement around its midsection.

These are babies number five, six and seven recorded since September 12th of this year. The team comprised a list of 13 females earlier this year that might have the potential to birth a new calf this Fall. Five of the first six babies seen were not on that list! There were several surprises with three first-time mothers plus two Gulf females that came close to our study area and all had new calves by their sides.

Baby Number Five belongs to a female named Destiny and this is her third calf. This mom has been a very good teacher to her two prior offspring and hopes are that she is successful with this new one as well. The baby is named Kismet, a synonym for destiny, and Kismet seems to be moving very well in the waters, next to mom’s side.

Baby Number Six was a bit of a surprise. There were no specific behavior patterns for the team to know for sure if this mom was a male or female in recent years, so when Coco gave birth, it was somewhat of a surprise! This would be her first calf and it is named Coconut. Cosmo’s mother is Nibbles and she is alive and well in our society, which means that Nibbles is now a grandmother!

Baby Number Seven was expected by the team this Fall. Mom’s name is MT2 and she suffered a miscarriage in May, 2022 with a calf stillborn at seven months old. On several occasions mothers that lose a calf early in life will typically birth another in about 14 to 15 months. This was the case with MT2. Our team didn’t see her around for nearly two months until she popped up in her regular territory on October 24th. When babies are born there will be creases on their skin known as “fetal folds”, white lines on the darker body that indicate that a calf is very recently born. Those folds will fade in about one month. MT2’s calf did not have any folds and the team estimates that the new little one, named Spirit, is probably one to two months old at first sighting.

Females Dolly, Nibbles, Cosmo, Patch’s Twin, Nadine and Kaya are high on our list as others that may yet give birth this Fall. Stay tuned.

On another note, the team is carefully monitoring a 14-month-old calf that has something wrapped around its midsection. We were very instrumental just a few months ago in April in saving a 19-month-old named Fergie from a life-threatening fishing line entanglement around his tail fin. The rescue was successful and Fergie is doing well.

The new incident is with a calf named Jolley. We first noticed this issue on October 17th. As is our custom we contacted Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC) immediately with photos and GPS locations. After several sightings we are still monitoring Jolley’s travel range and behavior, sending photos and sighting locations to FWC to see about a rescue for this little one. We will keep you posted on the Dolphin Explorer Facebook page and on the Coastal Breeze News page as well. Jolley’s mom is Sintas and this is her fourth offspring. 

So, exciting news in the Marco Island waters so far this Fall. Stay in touch with our media pages for updates regarding new births and on Jolley’s condition. We could total 10 to 13 new calves this Fall!