The Offshore Dolphins

Below are some photos and profiles of a few of the hundreds of offshore (not provisioned) dolphins that you may encounter in Shark Bay!

Agar

Agar is Algae’s last calf. He was born in 1997 and his mother disappeared around 2004, soon after Agar was weaned. Agar took awhile to develop strong bonds with other males, but eventually joined the “Hooligans” alliance. He spends most of his time in deep open water in Whale Bight.

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Burda

Burda is Surprise’s second born son and was born in 2003. Burda has several young male friends he spends a lot of time with, including India, Lips, Starlet, and even his brother Shiver. His mother, Surprise, took fish handouts at Monkey Mia, but males are not encouraged to hang around the beach, so Burda was never fed by humans. There are several reasons for this. First, males are more aggressive than females so male dolphins can sometimes hurt people. Also, mothers and daughters often associate after weaning, but sons do not. Daughters also tend to adopt the hunting traditions of their mothers and the provisioning at Monkey Mia is one such tradition. Burda does visit the beach on occasion however!

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Bytfluke

Bytfluke was born in the early 1970s and is currently one of our oldest living dolphins. Bytfluke was one of the first spongers discovered in the 1980s and has been sponging now for at least 40 years! Her older son, Bingo never sponged but once stole his mother’s sponge. Her last son, Google, has not been seen sponging yet, but he was born in 2008 and may start sponging yet. Bytfluke was named for a bit taken out of her tail fluke. Her dorsal fin is quite distinctive due to an encounter with a tiger shark in 1998.

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Clownfish

Clownfish was born in 1992, but she didn’t have her first calf until 2009. She was well known to researchers as a juvenile in 1990s because she liked to bowride from the boats. Her distinctive dorsal fin has allowed researchers to track her easily over the years. She has had four calves, Anenome, Dory, Leafy Seadragon, and Cuttlefish.

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Cyrano

Cyrano was named for the famous fictional character Cyrano de Bergerac because her dorsal fin looks like a very large nose. Researchers don’t know exactly when Cyrano was born, but estimate that it was around 1989. Her first calf, Pinocchio, didn’t survive, but her second calf Cleopatra did make it to weaning. Cyrano spends most of her time in deep water in Whale Bight, not far from the researcher’s base.

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Dodger

Dodger was born in 1999 to Demi and is the grand-daughter of Half-fluke, the first sponging dolphin that researchers discovered. Demi began sponging in 1989 at 2 years of age, and Dodger also began sponging when she was 2 years old. Thus, Dodger is a 3rd generation sponger. She has a twisted up dorsal fin that is easily recognizable. Her younger sister, Ashton, is also a sponger and the sisters spend quite a bit of time together when they aren’t busy sponging. Like all spongers, Dodger spends most of her time in deep channels where she can find her sponge tools and the fish she prefers. She is currently nursing a son named Bluejay.

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Kite

Kite is one of the sponger females and was born to Kestrel in 1989. Kestrel was also a sponger and Kite’s offspring, Osprey, is a sponger as well. Osprey was weaned in 2011. Kite spends most of her time sponging, but when she isn’t, she spends time with her sponger friends, especially Demi, Dodger, and Bytfluke. She is currently nursing a calf named Jaegar.

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Mouse

Mouse is Mini’s last-born daughter. She was born in 1991 and nursed for 7 years! Mouse had her first calf, Mighty, in 2003, only 5 years after she stopped nursing. Mighty, a male, is doing very well and has joined an alliance. Like her mother, Mouse likes to hunt in deep water. Mouse currently has a nursing calf named Moana and an older son, Magic.

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Pub

Pub is part of the large Skrub family, with an older brother Grub and two younger sisters Rubadub and Hubba. Pub was born in 1995 and is a sponger like his mother and everyone else in his family. Pub spends a lot of his time with other spongers, including Dali, another male sponger, but also some males that don’t sponge, such as Kobayashi, Granite, and Skate.

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Yobo

Not much is known about Yobo since he was first sighted as an adult in 1999. He was probably born in the 1980s. He has shifted his alliance partners over the years and is currently considered to be a member of the Grand Poobahs. His most common associates are Trion, Dante, and Rounder, but lately he has been on his own a lot.

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