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Dolphin Watch
The surprising secrets in a face
By ANN WEAVER
Article published on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007 |
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![[Image]](/content_images/112907_out-01.jpg) |
| Photo by ANN WEAVER |
| This dolphin is named Face because the tatters on her dorsal fin form the silhouette of a surprised little face. Her behavior has a surprising element as well. |
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We all know people with glowing personalities. They make the world go 'round.
Pet owners and zookeepers happily regale you about the personalities of their animal children. Yet, we don't usually think about personality in wild animals.
You look out the window and see a bird or squirrel. As they flit in and out of view, they say little about who they are: shy or bold, feisty or sweet. Watch them for a while and you'll see things that really make you wonder.
Face is like that. She's a dolphin in our local waters. We call her Face because the tatters on her dorsal fin form the silhouette of a surprised little face. Face goes about her business without fanfare. She's a resident, a dolphin who lives around here instead of visiting here. She had a baby late last summer and is a very good mother. She sticks close by and shepherds Babyface from danger like big bulls and high-flying teenagers.
She's also the dolphin most likely to swim with other dolphins who've been hurt.
Dolphins get hurt like any other animal. They get sliced on sharp oysters, poked by other dolphins, bruised mysteriously on the melon and bit by sharks. We don't understand the situation between dolphins and sharks, to be sure. But we know they interact now and again when we find a dolphin whose been bit by one.
By some chance, then Face is there.
We first saw this when Valiant got a shark bite on the peduncle. The peduncle is the tail, as if two legs were fused into one. Valiant's bite was like you getting clipped by an ax in the back of the thigh but you had to keep walking. Named for surviving, Valiant swam understandably slower in the weeks following the bite.
Face was the first dolphin we saw with her afterwards. Side by side, they gradually made their way from a favored channel into the shallows.
Shark bites are infrequent so it wasn't until the following summer that Face had the chance to exhibit further largesse. However, once Cactus was bit on the peduncle and Steve near his face, Face swam with them a significant number of times. The observation of her with wretchedly wounded Michigan may be another clue, because otherwise she's rarely around Michigan.
This summer, Face was with Bet when we first saw Bet's new bite on the dorsum (topside in front of the dorsal fin). The wound was fresh. Shark teeth marks were plain to see. Shreds of skin flowed off the wound. Again Face paced Bet's methodic speed. This time, though, little Babyface darted around nearby.
We watched from a distance to avoid harassing them. Face stayed close to Bet throughout, only leaving to fetch young Babyface back into her magic circle of preferred proximity. As they flowed into a secluded cove under the summer sun, I remembered that autumn morning with Face and Valiant.
I recalled it all again when we recently found Face and Babyface under cloudy November skies. This time, they swam with a young adult around Bet's age named Key. Key didn't have a fresh shark wound. But it'd clearly been in a recent ruckus. Its body was covered with toothrakes, the parallel lines that fighting dolphins leave when they bite each other.
Key didn't act hurt, dancing around the waters with Babyface. But animals are designed to hide distress lest their enemies notice and capitalize on it.
That's why it's so hard to tell when an animal is ailing. If you can plainly tell, they're really bad off.
Happily, each of the wounded dolphins survived their bites. How many did because of other dolphins?
Dolphins have a long history of unselfishness. Among themselves, they prop up harpooned dolphins at the surface so they don't drown, help newborns surface to breathe and cluster around them in large protective groups. Among us, human history is dotted with miraculous moments when dolphins help humans swim to shore or ward off sharks.
This kind of generosity has to start with individual dolphins with special personalities: those who recognize that someone needs aid and are willing to provide that aid even if it puts them in danger. Sounds like our medical community, doesn't it?
You have to wonder about Face. Is it coincidence that she swims with these occasional companions mainly when they're hurt? Is she one of those special individuals who recognize distress and stay to help?
So Face leaves us with a surprising perspective of ourselves. Neatly, her dorsal fin tatters do form the silhouette of a surprised little face. What's more surprising is that science may be the last to admit it.
Related stories about Face
Those blasted dolphins – not, All's well that ends well not always true, Rain dance, Specific surprise, Cutest little babyface, Out of the blue, Attack of the oyster, More than finger food, A day in the life, Move over, Babyface, The brass ring, Colonizing the shallows, Question of seaside surveillance
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.
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Article published on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007
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