It is with deep sadness that we come to the realization that Shadow has passed away. Shadow last attended the dolphin feed on Wednesday 9th June with her 20 month old male calf, Zephyr. Zephyr is a high spirited little calf and has been regularly seen by himself over the last few weeks. This is unusual as a mother dolphin will never leave her calf unprotected and to see Zephyr by himself without Shadow anywhere in sight was of great concern. Even when Shadow was not hungry, she would still come into Tangalooma and interact with the other dolphins in her family group. Conversely, there were also occasions when Shadow did not attend the feed for a few nights, or a week which is normal behaviour for our wild dolphins.
We do believe that Shadow may have been taken by a shark. Over the last few weeks there have been reports of schools of bait fish and pilchards at the top end of the island in the open ocean, which always attracts sharks. In one week National Parks had two sharks that had beached themselves at the top end of the island and needed rangers assistance to get them back into the water. Sharks do not usually venture into the Bay, but dolphins will venture out of their home range if there is a plentiful food source. We believe that although Shadow's home range is approx 10 kilometres either side of the jetty, she may have ventured further out of her home range to have access to the large schools of fish swimming past Moreton Island. If this was the case, and Shadow being a very dominant and competitive feeder, she may have become prey to an accidental shark bite while they were both competing in the same area for the same food source. This is very similar to what happened to Nari in February last year. It is important to note that Sharks are a very important part of the eco system and should also be protected.
One thing we must remember is that the dolphins that attend Tangalooma are wild dolphins. They are free to roam the bay and oceans and we must accept that even though sometimes their lives could be cut short by nature, they have fulfilling and happy lives being wild dolphins. Shadow's days would have been spent hunting and catching fish, squid, and other small crustaceans, socialising with the other wild dolphins within Moreton Bay, surfing waves, bow riding along with boats, interacting with other marine creatures great and small and just being free.
Shadow has been attending the dolphin feed since she was born (10/10/94). Her mother Beauty was one of the original dolphins when the programme started in 1992. Sadly Shadow too had a hard start in life as her mother Beauty died when Shadow was only 14 months old. Shadow proved that she was a survivor and was taken under the wing (or should we say flipper) or her older sister Tinkerbell.
Over the years Shadow has given birth to two calves. Her first born calf Silhouette is a 5 year old female ,and her second born calf Zephyr. Shadow was a great mum and was very protective of her babies. Once when Silhouette was only 9 months old and ventured too far away from her mother, Shadow quickly raced out to bring her back to be close by her side. She also did this on many occasions with Zephyr.
Shadow was a very skilled and efficient hunter and has passed on her many hunting techniques to both of her calves. One of Shadows many techniques would be to hide underneath the jetty and chase fish into the shallows. Shadow would also stun fish with a loud sonar pitch when they were hiding around the jetty pylons, and as the fish would jump up, Shadow would catch them in her mouth. These hunting techniques were a vital part of her calves survival once they had starting to hunt and catch fish for themselves.
Shadow will be greatly missed. She will always be in our hearts and memories and her spirit will live on through her two beautiful calves, Silhouette and Zephyr.
On behalf of Tangalooma, we say farewell to you Shadow, and we thank you for all that you have taught us throughout the years.
Shadow as a 1 year old calf
Shadow was a very skillful and efficient hunter. She caught this octopus underneath the jetty prior to a feed.
Silhouette, Shadow's first born calf. She misses her mum as she was very close to her.
Little baby Zephyr is Shadow's second born calf. He misses his mum too. He is a spirited,strong little guy and he will survive as other dolphins in Moreton Bay are looking after him, which is quite common in wild dolphins societies.
Shadow and Tangles.
Posted by dolphined
Friday, 25 June 2010
THE COVE - The Movie
The Cove - Oscar Award Winner. This movie was made by a team of dedicated dolphin conservationists.
Through footage captured with hidden cameras, the film portrays wild dolphin captures. It won this year's Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Sea Shepherd will be screening the Oscar winning film on:-
Monday 12 July 2010 7pm
Dendy Cinema
George Street, Brisbane $10 on the door
Guest Speakers:- Howie Cooke - (Surfers 4 Cetaceans) Kumi Kato - (UQ and Wakayama University Lecturer) Simon Warne - (Whale Wars Videographer)
Posted by dolphined
Friday, 18 June 2010
Dolphins News, Friday 18th June, 2010
Winter is here and the waters are getting cooler although its still great to be out in the water with the dolphins at Tangalooma. Here is an update on what the dolphins have been up to since our last blog.
Well Storm and Silhouette are as cheeky as ever, always darting in and out of the feed area chasing and catching fish that is swimming past the area.
Tink is still very protective of her latest calf, Phoenix. Only the other night just before the programme started, Phoenix ventured out too far away from her mother, and when Phoenix did not respond to her mothers' calls, Tink had to swim out into the darker waters to bring Phoenix back to her side. Phoenix is almost 2 years old now and wants to be out and about exploring new grounds although mum still wants her close.
Tangles seems to be getting bigger by the day, so we are hoping she may be pregnant. We just have to wait for a month or so before we can confirm. How exciting!!!!!!
Shadow and her latest calf Zephyr have not attended the feed over the last few nights. We believe this is because there are a lot of mullet swimming through the bay at the moment, Shadow may be teaching Zephyr to hunt and catch his own fish. Zephyr is proving to be a very little independent dolphin and would be having the time of his life with his mum.
The bigger boys are doing well too. Every now and then Nari Echo Rani and Bobo do not turn up at the feed. The boys may have more important activities to attend to like hunting and catching their own fish, asserting their dominance with other male dolphins or chasing the female dolphins around the bay.
Well until next month.. bye for now.
Tangle's belly seems to be getting
bigger by the day.
Zephyr as a baby calf. He is now growing
into a very independent little dolphin.
Posted by dolphined
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Dolphin News, 18th March 2010
Phoenix and Zephyr are continuing to develop their wild dolphin hunting techniques. One of their hunting techniques that staff observe on a nightly basis at the feed is when the young calves invert hunt. This behaviour is when the dolphin will swim quickly on their back chasing fish that are swimming close to the surface of the water. As the dolphin's eyes are designed to look forward and down, the only way the dolphin can see the fish that is swimming close to the surface of the water is when the dolphins turns upside down on its back. Lately the sea mullet has been swimming through the dolphin feed area. Great for the dolphins!!! All of the dolphins will start to invert hunt, and now its great to see that Zephyr and Phoenix are also joining in on the action. Our babies are growing up!!!. As the calves are only 19 months old, they are still very dependent on their mothers for milk, so it is quite common to see the young calves still suckling from their mothers throughout the feed. They will do so until they are approx 2-3 years of age and then they will be out in the Bay hunting and catching their own food which will include fish, squid, cuttlefish and other small crustaceans.
Posted by dolphined
Saturday, 13 February 2010
Dolphin News, 13th February 2010
Nari - One year on!
Well it's been one year since Nari came into the feed area with a severe shark bite injury to the top part of his head around the blow hole area. It was an extremely stressful time for all of the Tangalooma staff as we were not sure if Nari would survive. Thankfully he did, and he is doing really well.
Nari is a mature male Inshore Bottlenose dolphin and he turned 13 years old on the 28th January. As a dominant male, Nari is spending a lot of time with other male dolphins chasing and mating with female dolphins around Moreton Bay. So on the nights when Nari does turn up to the program, he will eat a few fish and then he is off again and he may not return for a few nights. When Nari was released back into the wild after recovering at Sea World from his injury, he was still very weak and was not able to keep up with the other dominant males that he normally swims with. For this reason he stayed quite close to Shadow, Tinkerbell and their young calves Zephyr and Phoenix as they are a lot slower than the males. Once Nari regained his strength about 2 weeks later, Nari was back to defending his position within his male social group and maintaining his male bonds and alliances. Last week during the feed, Nari was playing with Zephyr, Shadows 18 month old calf, when Zephyr caught a puffer fish. Both Nari and Zephyr were passing the puffer fish to each other and swimming and rolling around each other, it was very cute to see. On the night when Nari was released, Zephyr and Phoenix were actually swimming in circles around Nari. They were very happy and excited to see him again. Nari has become quite famous as his shark attack injury made headlines all over the world. Today we still have guests who travel from other countries hoping to see Nari. As Nari is a wild dolphin, we cannot always guarantee that he will arrive at the dolphin feeding program, particularly as he now seems to be very popular with the female dolphins in the area. We see this as a very positive sign as it shows us that Nari is not dependent on the program and will only come in if he chooses to.
Nari's injury is accessed by the Sea World Vet
Nari is happy to be returned back to the wild
and back to his family group.
Nari with his mate Echo last week.
Posted by dolphined
Monday, 25 January 2010
Eco-Cruise News, 25th January 2010
Currently on the Eco-cruise, Green turtles are seen with regularity, grazing on seagrass and surfacing to breathe and take a curious look at the Eco-Cruise boat and guests before disappearing with a splash. Spotted eagle rays slowly cruise the shallow waters, and shovelnose rays have been seen camouflaged underneath the sand and darting away across the sandbanks. En route to our chosen destinations for the day, pods of Inshore Bottlenose dolphins are seen in the deeper water. This time of year, these pods consist of several mother and calf pairs that are extremely playful occasionally frollick at the bow of the Eco-cruise vessel. The dugong remains elusive, with only a handful of sightings over the past month. These shy creatures are glimpsed surfacing for a quick breath before disappearing into the depths. Hopefully the herds of dugongs will return for the upcomming months!
Inshore Bottlenose dolphins
frollicking in the Bay
Posted by dolphined
Monday, 18 January 2010
Dolphin News, 18th January 2010
Storm our little 5 year old male dolphin did not arrive at the feed last night. Staff were not too worried because these dolphins are wild, and if they have better things to do like hunting or chasing the other dolphins around the bay, they may not attend the programme. Although we always have some dolphins attend the nightly programme, we may not see some of the dolphins, especially the males for a night or two and occasionally we may not see them for up to 6 weeks.
As Storm is a juvenile male dolphin, he has not established any really close bonds with other male dolphins quite yet, although when Storm reaches maturity in approx 4 years, he will form his own male alliances. This means that Storm will spend most of his time with the other male dolphins. In dolphin societies, the dolphins generally hang out in 3 different groups. They are: (1) adult males, (2) mothers and their calves (which stay together for 3-6 years) and (3) young males who have not yet reached reproductive maturity. Adult males and females may gather together to mate, while the young males (like Storm) remain isolated until they reach maturity.
Storm will not form close bonds with other
male dolphins until he reaches maturity.
Posted by dolphined
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Dolphins News, 10 December 2009
Prior to the Dolphin Feed last night, a 10 kg Yellow Tail Kingfish swam through the dolphin feed area past Shadow a 15 year old female dolphin who is a very efficient and skilled hunter. As the fish swam past Shadow, she sprang out from under the jetty and caught it. Shadow then took the Kingfish to the bottom of the sea floor to break its head off and spent the next 30 mintues tearing large chunks out of the fish and eating it. Yelllow Tail Kingfish are fast swimming pelagic fish that tend to inhabit areas no further north than Fraser Island. Good one Shadow!!!
Shadow waiting patiently under the jetty
Posted by dolphined
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Dolphin News, 19 November 2009
In late October, Tangles had been absent from the Dolphin Feed for several nights running. We were not too worried about this as Tangles is a wild dolphin. Tangles turned 9 years of age in September of this year and has reached sexual maturity, so it's possible she was being herded by the other male dolphins in Moreton Bay to breed. This is all part of dolphins societies, so there is a chance that Tangles may be pregnant, we'll just have to wait and see. In Moreton Bay, dolphins can become pregnant when they turn 9 years old, the gestation period is 12 months, therefore they will give birth to their first born calf when they are approximately 10 years olds.
Dolphins mating in Moreton Bay
Posted by dolphined
Saturday, 31 October 2009
Whale Watch News, 31st October
The last four months have flown by and we're sad to say that whale watching is officially at an end for 2009. With some absolutely incredible sightings and more than a few photos, we hope next year's season is just as amazing. Here's hoping the whales have a peaceful trip down to their Antarctic feeding grounds.
A female humpback whale waving to onlookers with her impressive flipper!
Posted by dolphined
Saturday, 31 October 2009
Dolphin News, 31st October
Last night we were lucky to have all eleven dolphins in at the feed. Echo and Rani finally decided to show themselves after a few weeks' absence and both were boasting some impressive rake marks (teeth marks from other dolphins), so we're pretty sure these mature guys have been out and about competing with other males and herding the females.
As usual, our girls have been coming in on a more regular basis, and just three nights ago Zephyr (Shadow's one year old calf) was actually seen catching and eating a fish of his very own! As he grows more independent from his mum it will become more and more common to see him hunting his own food. Way to go little guy!
Posted by dolphined
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Whale Watch & Eco-Cruise News, 11th October
October has brought some amazing sights out on the whale watches, with mums and calves and lots of activity! Those of us on the cruise last Friday were lucky enough to see a mum and her beautiful baby breaching simultaneously, rolling about in the water. An amazing display for onlookers, the huge female then started to teach the tiny calf to slap his (or her!) tail against the water.
We also spotted a pod of the elusive Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins out on the whale watch this week, a truly rare sight for this part of Moreton Bay. These shy, pale dolphins typically inhabit areas close to shore or river mouths, and are generally a lot harder to find than their larger bottlenose cousins.
An Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin (courtesy of Cetacean Society International).
Posted by dolphined
Sunday, 11 October 2009
Dolphin News, 11th October
Shadow celebrated her 15th birthday yesterday! Tinkerbell's younger sister and mother to two adorable calves (Silhouette, 5 & Zephyr, 1) Shadow is one of the cheekiest and most vocal of the dolphins at Tangalooma, often whistling, clicking and buzzing during the feed. We all wish Shadow a very happy birthday and hope her 15th year is full of fish!
We've been getting great attendance over the last few weeks at the dolphin feed, with our mature males making regular appearances and flirting with some of our females. As Tangles celebrated her 9th birthday just last month, she's fast becoming mature and it's no surprise the boys are giving her lots of attention!
Posted by dolphined
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Whale Watch & Eco-Cruise News, 26th September
Calf season has well and truly hit Tangalooma! Every Whale Watch this week spotted the adorable baby humpback whales cruising along side their mothers. Most of these whales will be south-bound now, making their way slowly back to the rich feeding grounds of the Antarctic, but not before we get to see the playful young calves making the most of the warm conditions - rolling on their backs, breaching, and curiously investigating our boat.
We even spotted a mum and calf on Thursday's Eco-Cruise! While looking for dugongs, guests and crew alike were pleasantly surprised when the two whales popped up beside our Explorer vessel, well within the calm shallow waters of the bay.
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