Hi Everyone, On the 13th August we noticed another one of our resident dolphins, “Unhap” with a fishing line entanglement. Volunteers Sharon Sharp and Donna-Louise Martin kept watch from the land while Dr Mike Bossley and I headed out on the water to assess the situation. Thankfully Unhap managed to free himself from the line. Fishing line entanglements can cause serious injury and even death to dolphins and other marine life.
Fishing line entanglements have been an ongoing issue for dolphins in the Port River for many years.
One of the Port River resident dolphins, “Twinkle” has a deformed tail fluke caused by fishing line and has had to be rescued four times due to entanglements. Another resident Dolphin, “Falcon” died from becoming entangled in fishing line. Young Doc (only two and half years old) was entangled in fishing line twice in less than a year and now poor Unhap has also had a fishing line entanglement.
Please bring your lines in if you are fishing and dolphins are nearby and please dispose of old fishing lines and fishing gear properly.
On a happier note, we have had some wonderful experiences with the dolphins during August. We are so fortunate to often have the dolphins come close to the land, giving volunteers and members of the public a great view. This photo of young Hunter surfacing near my two year old son and I was taken by volunteer, Ally Whyatt. We were incredibly lucky to have Mouse, Hunter and Unhap swimming back and forth very close to shore that day.
It’s SHOW TIME! Not only have the dolphins been putting on a great show, leaping out of the water but it is also SHOW TIME at the Royal Adelaide Show.
The Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary Action group, Coastal Ambassadors and Experiencing Marine Sanctuaries Volunteers are all working together at the show to highlight important messages about protecting marine life and their habitat. If you are at the show drop in and say “hello”.
Some of the other Dolphins we have seen over the last month include Morgan, Big Fold, Lunar, Bubbles, Star, Tiffany, Summer, Crystal, Hope, Marianna, Jumper, Zoom, Louan, Ali, Unhap, Ollie, Proppy, Danya, Harmony, MJ, Ripple, Sophie, Sharpie, Lartelare, June, Bianca, Doc, Oriana and Twinkle.
Look out for next Month's Dolphin Diary at the beginning of October.
Best Wishes
Marianna
