Bring on the Babies!

The team on board the Dolphin Explorer has been pretty excited since July, knowing that birthing season for the dolphin population of north Marco Island is just a few weeks away. 90% of the new calves are born in September, October, and November, but once in a while we get an early birth. Last year KayCee gave birth on August 19th, the first new baby of 2024. This year, the team was prepared to wait until September for our first calf sighting but were pleasantly surprised on August 21st of this year when mom Phineas was seen with a brand new little one by her side!

This is Phineas’ second offspring, giving birth to Kai a few years ago. I’ll stop right here and explain the naming of our dolphins. Each year, the team is on the water for an average of 425-450 excursions with guests on board. When a new calf is seen for the first time the passengers on board get to name it! Hence, a variety of names fill our database, with some females having male names and vice versa. There are a lot of dolphins named after food, such as Coco, Muffin, Salsa, Guac, and several more. We never know what the public will choose!

Phineas is the daughter of Patch’s Twin and has two siblings. Her youngest sibling is named Needles and has been with Patch’s Twin for five years. Typically, a youngster will stay with their mom for three to four years but Patch’s Twin did not give birth in the past two years, allowing Needles to get some more training from mom. Watching her behavior in the water recently, there is a chance that Patch’s Twin may give birth this Fall. If so, this will be the second year that a mom and daughter give birth in the same Fall!

This early birth by Phineas is not highly unusual but is not typical in our dolphin society. Dolphins can give birth anytime of the year but in north Marco waters it is primarily in the Fall months, as the team has documented for 20 years.

There are about 16 females on the team’s list that could potentially have a new calf in the coming months. These are Avery, Batman, Coco, Nibbles, Orange, Patch’s Twin, Payton, Phineas ( good girl!), Rakes, Salsa, Sintas, Skipper, Sparkle, Sparky, Tess, Zipper, and Chip. More than likely, not all of them will give birth this Fall, but they fit the profile of a female eligible to have a calf.

In addition, there is usually a surprise in the society. A young dolphin turning eight or nine years old would now fit the profile and possibly have a new baby. There are several dolphins of this age that could be a “wild card.” They include Fireball, Honeymoon, Fuller, Ollie, Robin, and Tigertail.

Our adult society consists of 15 males and 40 females, so it is easy for you to understand why the number of new babies this year is anticipated. With an average of 10 new calves documented by the team each year, our resident population is growing, and so are the number of sightings per excursion.

I used the word “resident” above. We have a dolphin society that does not migrate. They are here all year long because of the warm waters, clean ecosystem, and living in shallow waters, there is a lack of large predators to decimate their numbers. They are truly living in paradise!

The team will be looking carefully for new calves over the next several months, noting the identity of the mom so that the family tree can be accurately grown. For example, we have three different moms that have given birth to seven offspring each since the inception of our study and one of them, Avery, could be giving birth this Fall, becoming our first known mom with eight offspring!

Times are very exciting for the north Marco Island right now. Records will be broken and surprises will be noted. As always, every sighting will be documented for historical purposes and shared with agencies around the globe. Stay tuned for more info here at the Coastal Breeze News in the coming months and be sure to get their online feature as well!

Oh yes! I almost forgot! Phineas’ baby’s name! Well, being born in August, guests on the boat on August 21st decided to name the little one Augustus!!!!!