Lady Kit is the daughter of Unique, one of the original #dolphinsofponta. She has a pretty cool dorsal fin together with a number of scars and can be easily recognised amongst our dolfriends! She made it onto the dolphin care catalogue in the April of 2006 as a juvenile, still at moms side. We estimate her to be around 18 years old now and current data indicates she has been encountered 264 times in the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve.
In 2008, when Kit was six years old, she had a run in with some fishing line. As you can see from the images, the scarring caused from this entanglement could still be seen 3 years later. Five years later - she appeared with some deep unidentified lacerations which were healed up within a month!
Over the years we have had some memorable encounters with Kit. In 2013, Kit was observed in the the coastal shallows playing soccer with a puffer fish - not the greatest video but look how skilful she is at passing the terrified puffer which looks like up ball.
Did you know that pufferfish have a toxin that is stored in it’s liver that is called tetrodotoxin - it is said that dolphins can get high from playing with the puffer - however there are currently no studies to back this up!
When Kit was a child and through her young adult years, she was encountered regularly in the three southern most bays of Mozambique, mostly in the company of nursery pods were she seemingly looked to be tasked with babysitting.
In 2013 and again in 2016 Kit was seen heavy bellied and was with child, however to this day she has not yet been confirmed with calf. Towards the end of 2016 she was observed slim and trim, sporting some rake marks - more than likely caused from males during courtship.
In 2017 however sightings of Kit just stopped leaving us wondering if she has passed over or simply moved to quieter bays, like some of our other dolfriends. Time will tell - once we are permitted to work again we will certainly be keeping eyes open for this beautiful soul! Check out how Kit breaks from the boys (who can be heard popping) to come and say hello with a close bout of circle swimming and conscious interaction.
please share our blog
To find out how you can go about adopting one of our special finned friends please visit the site of the Society of Dolphin Conservation in Germany.
Don’t forget to checkout our partners at the World Cetacean Alliance to find out more about our vision of A World where cetaceans are only found in the wild, are respected and fully protected!
Comments