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Project Noah Nature School
Tursiops truncatus
Roughly 7 feet long, gray dolphin with rounded snout and tall dorsal fin.
T. truncatus can be found in the warm and temperate tropical oceans worldwide.[16] Some bottlenose populations live closer to the shore (inshore populations) and others live further out to sea (offshore populations). Generally, offshore populations are larger, darker, and have proportionally shorter fins and beaks. Offshore poulations can migrate up to 4,200 km (2,600 mi) in a season, but inshore populations tend to move less. However, some inshore populations make long migrations in response to El Niño southern oscillation events (wikipedia)
This dolphin was part of a pod of 5 - 8 dolphins playing on the Gulf side of Stump Pass. We were really surprised to see them so close to the shore (I'd say less than 50 yards from the beach we were standing on) during such an obvious rise in Red Tide. The beaches on both the Lemon Bay side and the Gulf side were littered with dead fish and the shore birds were quite limited compared to what I've seen there before. So it was amazing to watch these guys play for at least half an hour right where we could see them.
Spotted on Oct 8, 2012
Submitted on Oct 9, 2012
1 Comment
Such a gorgeous calf, so young you can still see the fetal folds! Beautiful sighting!