Dolphin Tales: Social bonds among female bottlenose dolphins
A couple weeks ago I wrote about the social bonds among male bottlenose dolphins. This week I will focus on the social bonds among female bottlenose dolphins.
When dolphins are weaned at around 3 or 4 years old, they are considered juveniles and leave the protection of their mothers to socialize with other dolphin groups.
They live in ever-changing groups that come together, split up and come together again in different combinations. Even though the young dolphins flit from group to group as often as every 10 minutes throughout the day, they tend to spend more time with a few close friends or relatives. Females tend to stay close to their mothers and extended female family.
Young females prefer to hang out with other females and spend twice as much time as their male counterparts foraging for fish. This behavior during the juvenile period is an important opportunity to develop the skills necessary for upcoming demands of birth and child rearing. Females become sexually mature at around 5 to 10 years of age. They give birth to one calf every 2-3 years.
Being a successful adult female dolphin requires caring for calves that aren’t weaned until they are at least 3 years old. Nursing moms need a lot of calories to nurse their offspring. This is why young females spend more time foraging for fish. It is a practice that they will need as the full realities of motherhood set in.
Once the young female becomes pregnant, she joins the nursery pod of other females. Female dolphins that have bonded with each other swim together in these nursery pods to help care for and protect their young. Nursery pods can number a dozen or more females.
Moms form playgroups and even nurse for each other. They communicate with squeaks, whistles and clicks. Each mom has a signature whistle that she uses to call her calf and each calf knows its mother’s whistle.
Female dolphins become grandmothers at around age 40, and tend to their grandchildren in many of the same ways humans do.
Capt. Cathy Eagle has spent over 40 years boating in our local waters. As a professional charter captain she specializes in dolphin and nature tours. Please visit CaptainCathy.com or call 239 994-2572.