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Dolphin Watch
Fish Frisbee
By ANN WEAVER
Article published on Thursday, April 19, 2007
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![[Image]](/content_images/041907_out-01.jpg) |
| Photo by ANN WEAVER |
| Dolphins zing fish like Frisbees by surfacing with the fish in the mouth and snapping the head sideways, like human Frisbee players snap their wrists or by fish whacking, a mighty sideways slug from the powerful peduncle (tailstock). |
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Noon in gorgeous Florida, it was the last stop on my dolphin study survey route. It's a broad bay bordered by a blunt cul-de-sac save for a narrow canal winding behind a manmade island.
It's rare to see dolphins here so I was surprised to see a dolphin's dorsal fin disappearing around a distant bend. I hurried into the tiny canal and peered around the watery corner.
Abruptly, a broad wrinkle rose at the water surface like a wave rushing to shore that hadn't yet broke. It plowed along the seawall growing in speed and size. The dolphin creating this ripple, if indeed it was a dolphin, was not visible. How could a dolphin create this great ripple without exposing its dorsal fin at the surface?
I didn't have time to ponder its probable posture when a glittery wall of water slammed over the surface and out flew a fish.
It smacked down about 10 feet away. The ripple turned and launched towards the landing spot. All became quiet.
A bottlenose dolphin surfaced briefly at the sea wall. Another surge rippled the surface. Another fish flew. A second fin appeared. More surges. More flying fish. JJ and her female calf Rim were doing lunch on fish Frisbees.
Two men walking by the canal stopped and gawked.
Like human fishermen, dolphins use a range of techniques to catch the various fish on their menu.
Most spectacular is when dolphins zing fish into the air like so many Frisbees. You're on your boat watching dolphins (from the required and respectable distance of 50 yards away) when a fish suddenly flies through the air compliments of a bottlenose dolphin. Quick observers identify the species; the easiest is the hapless sheepshead with its dark and bland stripes.
Dolphins have a couple ways to zing fish like Frisbees. One is to surface with the fish in the mouth and snap the head sideways, like human Frisbee players snap their wrists. This is the head-toss technique. A more athletic way is fish whacking, a mighty sideways slug from the powerful peduncle (tailstock). Sometimes you see the swing, the hit and the Frisbee fly. Mostly, the kick happens underwater; you see only a mighty surge and a fish go flying.
Try it. Kick a football underwater so the football flies 10 feet above and across the water surface. Swim so you're there to catch it when it hits. That's the behavior we're talking about!
The purpose of fish Frisbee is to stun fish, which it undoubtedly does, and circumvent their escape. It may also serve to soften the meal, like you mashing baked potato between your fork tines.
My guess is that the frequency of fish Frisbee varies across different dolphin communities, each of which develops local customs. John's Pass dolphins are frequent Frisbee-ers.
There's plenty of opportunity here. Our study site, a microcosm of extensive backwaters, is 15.4 miles round trip. Laced with no less than 57 miles of coastline and 51 cul-de-sac canals excluding numerous narrow thoroughfares connecting bays like where I watched JJ and Rim, it sports countless seawall sites for fish Frisbee.
Individual dolphins develop feeding specialties. Several locals specialize at fish Frisbee. A summer visitor was so relentless we named her Fishwhacker. Edge, a massive bull, is another. The local champions, though, have to be Cheetah, named after Tarzan’s chimp now living a good life at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary (www.suncoastprimates.org) and LA Cheetah. In our naming system, LA stands for Look Alike. LA Cheetah not only looks like Cheetah from the surface; it rivals Cheetah for 1st Place in fish Frisbee. This day, JJ and Rim emerged as contenders in this serious game.
There are few clues about how dolphins learn fish Frisbee but it may emerge from calves at play. Some calves toss sticks around. At the surface, they head-toss sticks sideways 1 or 2 feet, about half the length of their young bodies. In contrast, adults slam fish 2-3 times as far as their bodies are long…and grab them when they land.
Like adults, calves race and retrieve the stick but they toss it again and again. Stick was playing such a game of Catch when we first saw her, hence her name. Some calves graduate from sticks to fish Frisbee, repeatedly tossing little fish as if practicing. We're watching to see if newly-weaned PC develops the habit.
To sum up, whatever you do, don't come back as a sheepshead!
Dr. Weaver studies wild dolphins under federal permit GA1088-1815, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Send her an e-mail at acweaver@tampabay.rr.com or visit www.dazzlingdolphins.com.
Other stories about these dolphins: Charming; Food Court, Out of the Blue; Mack is Back; Just Swinging By; Catch with a Wild Dolphin
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Article published on Thursday, April 19, 2007
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