Three New Baby Dolphins Seen in Two Weeks

The 10,000 Islands Dolphin Study Project is the property of Dolphin Explorer LLC and has been monitoring the travel range, feeding habits, social behavior, survival rate, genealogy, and overall well-being of the local bottlenose dolphins of north Marco Island for more than 18 years…the study continues….

Just two weeks ago the dolphin study team on board the Dolphin Explorer reported our first two newborn baby dolphins of the 2024 Fall birthing season. Moms Kay Cee and Darwina are seasoned veterans in raising their young in the north Marco Island waters and should be successful in their efforts to bring these new youngsters to surviving on their own. 

Since then, from September 10th to the 20th, three more calves have been documented in the local habitat. Let us introduce you to those moms and their new babies. 

On September 10th, the crew journeyed into the Gulf waters along the primary beach area of “Hotel Row”. About 600 feet offshore a small group of dolphins was encountered and, among them, a mom and new calf. The mom was identified as K2, a female known to the team but not seen often. 

In fact, there have only been five documented sightings of K2 in the last four years. On this day, however, K2 had a new calf by her side, her first known offspring. 

If you know your geography, K2 is the second-highest mountain peak in the world, and Mount Everest is the tallest. This being said, the baby was named Everest! The team hopes to see more of K2 and Everest in their journeys. 

Exactly one week later, on September 17th, 15-year-old female Nadine was located in Johnson Bay, also with a new calf. This youngster appeared to be very new, likely one to two days old. This is Nadine’s second offspring. The name Nadine means HOPE, so the baby was named Dreamer! Nadine is a regularly seen lady in our waters, and we will monitor her and Dreamer often. Nadine’s mom is still in the area and her name is Tess. Dreamer would be Tess’ second grandbaby! 

The team compiled a list of 16 females that might give birth this Fall. Kay Cee, Darwina and Nadine were all very high on that list and one of the most likely to give birth was a 14-year-old named Jing Jing. She did not disappoint! On Friday, September 20th, we sighted her with several other females in the vicinity. As we photographed all of the dolphins there, up popped a very tiny baby! There was another female without a calf, named Robin, close by so we stayed around that group to verify exactly which dolphin was the newborn’s mom. Sure enough, time gave us the answer, and Jing Jing’s new baby was named Kiwan. This is Jing Jing’s third calf and she has been a very successful lady in raising her young. We see her often, making it easy for the team to monitor the newborn’s behavior. 

Jing Jing’s mom is Sydney, now a three-time grandmother. The team is tracking nine known grandmothers in our north Marco dolphin society. There is a potential that we might know our first great-grandmother if a certain young female gives birth this Fall! 

In the Fall of 2023, we did not see our first new calf until September 17th. This year, five new babies have been documented by September 20th, a bit of an early start to what could be our most productive birthing season on record. 

Stay tuned to the Coastal Breeze for further updates and join our Facebook page for more info as well at The Dolphin Explorer Marco Island. It’s going to be a very busy Fall! 

Bob is the Lead Naturalist for the dolphin study project on board the Dolphin Explorer. He is the author of two books and twice a national award-winning columnist for Coastal Breeze News. He is a regular speaker at area venues and a member of Florida SEE ( Society for Ethical Ecotourism). Bob loves his wife very much!