Unusual dolphin sighting

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MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Experts on dolphins have experienced the rare sighting of a newborn common dolphin calf swimming with humpback dolphins at the Mossel Bay harbour wall.

Stellenbosch PhD student Sasha Dines was in Mossel Bay for three weeks with her doctoral supervisor and a photographer, studying humpbacks, when she spotted the common dolphin among them.

"It still had its foetal folds, so it was only a few days old," Dines told the Mossel Bay Advertiser. Foetal folds are the wrinkles a newborn dolphin has, caused by being curled up in its mother's belly.

"Also, the dorsal fin of the common dolphin calf was large compared to its body; it had to grow into it. This was also an indication of its very young age."

After this sighting on 24 March, Dines did not see the dolphin calf again.

Photo gallery: Rare sighting of dolphin

"Humpback dolphins are usually seen near the harbour and Santos Beach," Dines says. They are an endangered species.

"I am based in Cape Town for my PhD. I have lived in Mossel Bay for three years previously."

Dines explains: "The common dolphin calf's mother either died or it got separated from its mother. Humpback and common dolphins rarely cross habitats or areas.

Lost newborn
"It was a lost newborn. If there were no lactating mothers in that humpback group, its chances of survival were low."

Dines points out that it has been seen in other species in seas across the world that dolphins care for orphan calves of a different dolphin species.

Dines' thesis topic is, "Signature whistles in humpback dolphins".

Speaking about the common dolphin calf, Dines notes: "Usually if there has been an adoption, you will only have one adult with the calf. But the common dolphin was tagging along with the humpback dolphin group, indicating it had not been adopted yet."

Dines said she had been out every day during her stay in Mossel Bay and had seen dolphins most days. "We have identified 12 individual humpback dolphins. We took pictures of their dorsal fins. Each fin is individual to the animal."

Dines also works for the NGO, Sea Search and Dr Tess Gridley, who is her PhD supervisor, is a co-director of Sea Search. Dines is also assisted by Mossel Bay's Oceans Research.

Dines has done a fieldwork diary on YouTube for PhD students. "I have done a short video on common dolphins."

The videos can be viewed here and here.

Dr Tess Gridley, photographer Guy Frainer and Sasha Dines in Mossel Bay. Photo: Dr Tess Gridley