Dolphin Tales: Baby bottlenose dolphins
This Labor Day weekend offered lots of time on the water in Pine Island Sound with guests onboard. The weather held out and I was impressed by the number of nursery pods we encountered on our journeys. Nursery pods are made up of moms, grandmoms, great grandmoms and all the little dolphin calves cruising together.
Calves can be born any time of the year, but birth peaks often occur during the warmer months such as late spring, summer and early fall. When encountering a nursery pod, I am very vigilant not to disturb the natural behavior involved in raising calves. Moms are nursing, teaching the young ones to fish, scolding them if they wander off and, above all, protecting them from danger. I steer away from the pod, allowing my guests to observe, while explaining the importance of not disrupting their natural habitat and instinct to protect their calves.
Just as I was explaining this, a tiny calf began jumping fully out of the water numerous times. It seemed the calf was jumping for joy. The baby was playing and socializing, but there was a fair amount of tail slapping by the elders to try and corral the baby from being too rambunctious. Adult dolphins swim on the outside of the pod while keeping the calves in the middle. Adult dolphins will also swim above and slightly to the side to help propel the calves in their wake, saving the babies a lot of energy while swimming.
The gestation period in the bottlenose dolphins is approximately 12 months. Calves are born between 43 and 53 inches long, and weigh between 22 to 44 pounds. They stay under the watchful eye of their mother and other helpful females for 3-6 years while they are nursing, learning to hunt, avoid danger and navigate their territory. Males do not participate in raising calves.
Captain Cathy Eagle has spent over 45 years boating on our local waters. As a professional charter captain, she specializes in dolphin and nature tours as well as private tours to CabbageKey.com. Visit pineisland-eagle.com/Dolphin Tales to learn more about her tours. You can reach her at CaptainCathy.com or call /text 239 994-2572. Welcome aboard!