Meet the Dolphins

Home Dolphins and Conservation Wild Dolphin Feeding Meet the Dolphins

Meet the family of Tangalooma Dolphins

Unknown to many, the dolphins that visit our shores are actually part of two tight-knit family groups. Beauty and Bess, two mature females who have since passed away, kicked off the program by bringing in their young calves back in the 1990s. Check out the family tree below to learn more about the Tangalooma dolphin family, or click here to view the Dolphin Family Tree PDF

Download the Dolphin Family Tree

Beauty

Beauty began visiting in 1986, and was the first dolphin to be fed by hand. She is the mother of Bobo, Tinkerbell and Shadow, and last visited the feed in December 1995.

Passed Away: 1995

Bella

Bella lived in the safe and shallow waters near the resort. She has acted as a 'baby sitter' to the younger dolphins while their mothers fed. It is estimated that Bella was born in 1965.

Passed Away: 2012

Bess

Bess began hand feeding in 1992 and is the mother to Rani and Nari. Bess was a very calm and gentle dolphin, and last visited the feed in February 1999.

Passed Away: 1999

Betts

Betts is Silhouette’s first born calf and is a very cheeky, mischievous little calf, and he is growing into a very bold dolphin. In 2016, we were worried about Betts’ wellbeing when the Dolphin Care Team had to rescue his mother Silhouette who was entangled in fishing line. Betts loves to play with pieces of sea grass and seaweed before the feed.

Born: 2014

Bobo

Bobo was beauty's son. Bobo was a dominant male dolphin, and belonged to his own pod of males. After two previous shark attacks, Bobo has not been seen since the 2011 floods.

Passed Away: 2011

Calypso

Born in 2015, Calypso is the fifth calf from Tinkerbell, and grandson of Beauty, the first dolphin to begin hand feeding at Tangalooma.

Born: 2015

Comet

Comet is growing into a very lively, and especially cheeky little male dolphin. Comet is very playful and interactive with all of the other younger dolphins especially his older brother Betts (4 year old male), who likes to chase little Comet around the feeding area.

Born: 2019

Cruze

Cruze is Tangles' first born calf. Cruze is very social with the other dolphins and loves to play with seaweed and pufferfish during the feed.

Born: 2012

Echo

Sadly, Echo had a more tragic introduction to the feeding program, arriving at the jetty alone when he was only 6 months old. Luckily, the Tangalooma dolphins took the young orphan under their wing (or flipper), allowing him to grow into the healthy adult male we see today

Born: 1992

Fred

By far the oldest member of the pod, old Freddy was like a grandfather to the dolphins here at Tangalooma. Estimated to be upwards of 40 years of age, Fred was one of the first dolphins to accept the young orphan Echo has now passed away. He stopped visiting the feed in 2007.

Passed Away: 2007

Luna

Luna was Tinkerbell's fourth born calf, and is very playful and interactive with the other dolphins. Luna likes to swim by Bella's side during the feed.

Born: 2012

Nari

Nari is Bess's second calf. He was rescued at four years of age due to fishing line entanglement and again in 2009 due to a shark attack

Born: 1997

Phoenix

Phoenix is Tinkerbell's third calf. Phoenix did not return to the feed after the floods in early 2011.

Born: 2008 | Passed Away: 2011

Rani

Rani arrived at the program with his mother Bess in 1993 as a baby. His name actually means 'Indian Princess' as he was believed to be female until he was about six years old.

Born: 1993

Scout

Scout is the latest calf to come into the Tangalooma family. Scout was born to Tinkerbell in July 2019.

Born: 2019

Shadow

Shadow is Beauty's third calf, but was orphaned at a young age when Beauty died. Shadow was looked after by sister Tinkerbell. Shadow is the mother of Silhouette and Zephyr (pictured with Zephyr).

Born: 1994 | Passed Away: 2010

Silhouette

Silhouette is cousin to Storm, and only 10 days younger. Silhouette is a very playful dolphin and an active hunter. Although younger than Storm, she is larger in size.

Born: 2004

Sprite

Born in late 2016, Sprite as the name suggests, it is a very spritely young dolphin. Sprite is the second calf from Tangles, and great grandchild of Beauty, the first dolphin to begin hand feeding at Tangalooma.

Born: 2016

Storm

Storm is Tinkerbells second calf. He is the cousin to Silhouette and born only 10 days before her. Storm has become quite independent from Tinkerbell and is looking for his own male pod to join.

Born: 2004

Tangles

Tangles is the first calf of Tinkerbell. She is the big sister to Storm, Phoenix and Luna. Tangles had her first calf in 2010 which sadly passed away. She is now mother to Cruze and Sprite who was born in 2012.

Born: 2000

Tinkerbell

Tinkerbell is beauty's second calf. She is the mother of Tangles, Storm, Phoenix, Luna, Calypso and Scout. Tinkerbell is a dominant female dolphin.

Born: 1990

Zephyr

Zephyr is Shadows second calf. He is very active and very social with the other dolphins. Bella looked after Zephyr when his mother Shadow passed away

Born: 2008

Wild Dolphin Viewing & Wild Dolphin Feeding Access

Please note that casual visitors to Moreton Island are not allowed access to the resort premises for the nightly dolphin viewing / feeding experience. All guests that are authorised to stay overnight at properties within the grounds of the resort have general admission access to the dolphin viewing areas each evening. Only guests who have booked official day trips and select overnight stays with Tangalooma Island Resort will be able to participate in the nightly dolphin feeding program, but only if it was included in your original package. Consult your confirmation paperwork to confirm your access.

Wild Dolphin Feeding / Viewing is dependent on dolphin attendance, weather conditions & tides, therefore arrival cannot always be guaranteed; however over the last 3 decades of the program, we have experienced a 99% attendance rate. See Dolphin Feeding FAQs for further information about the program.