Second Quarter Research Results

What a great first half of the year for our Marco Island dolphins! The nine new babies from the fall of 2025 are now all nine to 10 months old and all are doing well. The study team is excited about the 2026 Fall birthing season; they have 16 adult females that may potentially give birth this fall.

In order to get to that order of business, we must first take a look back at the last three months of April, May, and June to give us an idea how birthing season might be this year.

To review, the study team documents each and every sighting of our local dolphin population in real time as sightings occur. This information is then transferred to our database and details are dispersed to agencies around the globe every three months.

This past quarter, the team collected info on 1,873 identified sightings of our local population. For the first quarter, there were 2,184 documented sightings of these locals, bringing the first half of the year to a close with 4,057 sightings to review.

Our society consists of 40+ adult females, 15 adult males, and the rest of the group is comprised of calves still by their mom’s sides and young dolphins that have left mom’s side but are not yet fully mature, bringing the local population to 125+ dolphins.

Of the 15 adult males, six are the apex males or so-called “kings of the jungle” when it comes to mating. These six are three pairs of two known as “male pair bonds.” These bonds are very important for showing dominance over the other males, and females are actually attracted to these pairs when it comes to mating. They are the biggest, strongest boys and, just like other areas of the animal kingdom, the female wants the dominant guys to hopefully ensure that their offspring are as strong as can be.

Twenty-eight of our adult females still have calves by their sides. Those youngsters that are two years old or younger still need schooling from mom, while those turning three, four, or five have learned a lot and could potentially be going out on their own soon. That calculates to mean that 16 of our adult ladies could potentially give birth this fall.

Typically, a female will mature at about seven years old. With a gestation/pregnancy period of one year, the youngest we have seen a female give birth would be eight years old, if not more. The young, being mammals, will nurse from mom’s milk for about two years. When mom stops producing milk for that young one, mom could actually be in a state to become pregnant again. With that one-year gestation period, those calves by a mom’s side that are turning three, four, or five years old could be going out on their own this fall. Our primary birthing season is September and October, with 85% of our newborns arriving at that time.

As far as the dominant males go, Bangle, Finch, Captain Jack, Trixie and Capri are the guys to watch out for. Capri is the largest male in our society at nearly 10 feet long and approximately 600 pounds. These five have been ruling the mating game since before our study program began in 2006.

There are some males that have reached maturity over the past few years and they are asserting their presence with authority, especially one named Simon. Simon will be 19 this fall, and he is big, strong, and catching the attention of the big boys here. He could be the next male to reach that dominant status. Several other males are beginning to assert themselves as well. The team will see how this plays out in the near future.

Turning our attention back to the females, we mentioned that 16 are on the team’s list as “potentials” to give birth this fall. That doesn’t mean that all of them will. If you’ve been on our tour in recent years, you might recognize some of the names on that list: Batman, Nibbles, Patch’s Twin, Avery, Skipper, Payton, Orange, Rakes, Sparky, Salsa, MT2, Kaya, Coco, Phineas, Destiny and Cosmo. All of these ladies fit the profile to have a new calf this fall, but time is our ally and will tell us.

To summarize, there were 1,873 identified sightings of our local bottlenose dolphin population in the second quarter of 2026, bringing the annual total as of June 30 to 4,057 documented sightings. This information was gathered over 245 excursions for an average of 17 dolphin sightings per trip. This does not include dolphins from south Marco, Naples, and the Gulf that travel through our survey area. Once again, this quarterly information is distributed to dolphin studies around the world.

What will the fall birthing season bring? It should be interesting! We already have folks reserving seats on our excursions in September and October, hoping to be the first ones to see a new baby dolphin. You, too, can grab a seat by visiting our website at: dolphin-study.com. Stay tuned!