Fin Friday this week shines a light on an adult female who goes by the name of Peewee (C.10 bd39m). Peewee first started showing up on the data sheet in the February of 2003. She has a dorsal fin that has remained pretty much unchanged over the years and is characterised by a large middle notch. Like dorsal fins, pectorals also develop unique nicks and notches, and Peewee boasts two of those to!
In 2007 Peewee was photographed with a calf and our first underwater image on record is dated 2008 and she was oh so speckled already - so this lady is old - at a guesstimate we are putting her in her mid 30’s! In 2009 Peewee was photographed with a newborn and had subsequently calved in 2012, 2015 and 2018!
Peewee has always been a sociable and trusting dolfriend and current data suggests she has been spotted 238 times in the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve.
It’s always exciting to observe dolphins when they are just going about doing their own thing. Back in 2010 we observed Peewee foraging in Ponta Bay whilst in the company of her offspring and a nursery pod. She had caught herself a nice big reef fish and by the time Angie started recording, she had already broken it in three. What is most intriguing is that although the other dolphins were very aware of the fish, they left it alone for her…
Pregnant bellies are pretty cool too! On xmas day in 2017, we encountered Peewee waaayyyy up north in Techobanine, she was in the company of Shadow - another local #dolphinsofponta. Both were heavy bellied and were close to calving. Shadow however spent the entire encounter whistling and whistling…
Did you know that researchers suggest that pregnant females start whistling to their babes a few weeks before and after birth. This is said to be a vocal imprinting process whereby mum teachers her newbie her signature whistle, how cool is that! According to researcher Audra Ames; a similar phenomena can be found in humans, were babies are seen to respond to moms voice in utero during the last weeks.
thank you for learning about our local dolfriends - 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!
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