Dolphin Watch
A particular proximity
By ANN WEAVER
| Article published on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007 |
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![[Image]](/content_images/081607_out-01.jpg) |
| Photo by ANN WEAVER |
| On a recent morning near a delicate mangrove isle, dolphins wound around each other between fish snacks. |
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How do the dolphins we study perceive us? We're at sea with them several times a week. Are we just another boat, an annoyance to be tolerated, or a familiar part of their social world?
We're accepted by some of them. Dolphins like P, FM, DD1, Grin, Cheetah and N do not have to reliably stop what they're doing to swing by the boat and then return to their activities. Yet they do. At the least, the behavior is an acknowledgement. At most, it may be a greeting.
When I turn to approach distant dolphins, they do not have to turn and approach me as well, as on a recent August morning. Grin, N and LA Stick did not have to meet me in the middle. But, awesomely, they did. Although I could be slapped scientifically for saying they were in a light social mood, pet owners know what I mean. The dolphins were idly interacting and brought their intermingling to the boat.
I'd like to think that part of it is respectful boat driving.
Each dolphin has a personal boat distance, the distance it seems to prefer the boat to stay from it. While this varies with time and place, some have characteristically large distances. If we enter into a particular proximity to them and they move away, for example, they need more room. We back off.
A good example is resident dolphin JJ and calf Rim (named for serrations bordering her hooked dorsal fin). We can only study them if we stay at least three to four boat lengths away from them. That's at least 60-80 feet. So that's what we do.
We respect such signs, not just to be able to stay and study. We respect animal signs as a sign of respect.
And does it pay.
One steamy August day, JJ and Rim were slowly milling off a delicate mangrove isle in 2 feet of water with Brick and Square Scoop. The latter two, probable bulls, have been in our waters about two months. They're making the rounds. It was just as well that the water was too shallow for us, because JJ and Rim need lots of room. We parked and watched from a distance.
They were pursuing the world's two oldest behaviors. As is often the case, females fed while males vied for their attention. JJ and Rim use the technique called fish whacking, slugging fish out of the water with powerful peduncles (tailstocks). But today they merely flicked fish between bouts of winding around each other and the males.
A dolphin would invite interaction by lying on its side. Its belly flashed pink against green waters. Its pectoral (arm) fin saluted the air. They'd converge and commingle.
Interestingly, the girls incorporated some fish whacking into their social style, flicking Brick or Square Scoop in the face when either trailed too closely.
Some time later, probable bulls Jagger and Flag swam past. Pair converged with quartet and had a short circling discussion. The pair did not contest it and continued to the north.
Two fishermen approached in a flat-bottomed johnboat designed for very shallow water. Maybe they saw the flinging fish. In any case, they headed straight for the milling quartet's tiny circle of water and anchored in the middle of it. Since the data were collected and dolphins never need two boats, we left to find Jagger and Flag.
We found them two football fields' distance away. They too hunted extreme shallows. Again we parked and watched. In shallow water, dolphins swim at the water surface in behavior called sharking, their dorsal fins continuously exposed. Today, the pair's bellies probably rubbed along the grasses as well. They too fish whacked. Lapping waters were slit by fins and occasionally shuddered by low-angled splashes as fish were whapped in earnest.
With the intrusion of the johnboat, the quartet left the delicate isle and headed over. Would they join Jagger and Flag? Unexpectedly, they joined us instead. Each swung by the boat in turn. Then they resumed their idle socializing and fishing 20 feet away. I couldn't believe it. Was this really JJ and Rim?
Hesitant to leave this privileged proximity, we had one more place to check on our route. We slowly motored away and rounded a corner of land into a tiny nearby cove. We'd reached the middle of it when JJ, Rim, Brick and Square Scoop entered the cove. They could've been coming here anyway. But they sped up and, peering at us from the port side, matched our slow speed. They fell into step with us.
They'd followed us twice. It was unreal.
For people to study the natural behavior of free-ranging animals, the animals must either be unaware that they're being studied or trust the researchers. That animals are unaware of human presence is absurd. Trust takes two things at least. One, we must stay alert for signs that the animals are bothered by our presence and change our behavior accordingly. Two, we must graciously acknowledge when their behavior suggests the opposite.
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.
Related stories:
Just Swinging By, Fish Frisbee, Powersharking, Breathless, Food Court, Do As I Do, Snorting the Engine, More than Finger Food, Credible Curiosity
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Article published on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007
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