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Maputo National Park - Ponta do Ouro, Mozambique; 14 September 2023 marks 14 years of International coastal cleanup events in Ponta do Ouro and this date marks the 66th clean-up on record overall The event, which takes place the second week of September was co-ordinated by the Dolphin Encountours Research Center (DERC) in partnership with the Maputo National Park (MNP), the Peace Parks Foundation, Lwandi Surf and Ocean Conservancy. QUICK FACTS Number of participants: 38 Bags collected: 23 Kilograms: 150,40 Kilometers covered: ±10km Time start: 08h30 Time finish: 12h00 Sponsored by: DERC, Sapphire Sands, Florestina and Plastics SA Cleanup teams met at 08:30 and by 09:30, after registration, tea, cookies and a briefing - crews armed with plastic bags, sponsored by Plastic SA and data cards hit Ponta Beach. Teams A and B headed off in vehicles north, while team C worked the launch site to the border. Overall almost 10km of our coastline was cleaned. The event was attended by members of the Maputo National Park and APA, together with both local and international volunteers. Fifteen children from the local community and Lwandi Surf attended with a total of 38 participants in all. A total of 23 bags were filled and 150kg of rubbish, including ropes and many plastics were collected. After some three hours of work, hunger and thirst was generously taken care of with thanks to the sponsorship of packed meals from our friends at Sapphire Sands and Florestina. A special shout out goes to everyone who participated in this yeas ICC, it was a great success and would not have been possible without your helping hands and open hearts!

Date of Incident: 200823 Incident Type: Green Turtle Stranding Location: Maputo national Park - Ponta do Ouro On 20 August 2023, MNP ranger Filimon found a small green turtle on the beach. The female was unable to dive and was brought to DERC for examination. The turtle looked to be in good health however did have some surface bite marks - the origin of which was unknown. After housing her overnight, she was transported to the vet in Maputo for rehabilitation were it was discovered she was free of pneumonia (an illness associated with this species) and had no air trapped inside. She is currently still in rehab in Maputo and we eagerly await her return to return her back into the wild.

Image: Baby humpback whale Maputo National Park Ponta do Ouro, Mozambique - To Celebrate the majestic, mighty and great humpback whale and their smaller cousins the dolphins, Ponta do Ouro saw three events take place in the later part of August. The Welcoming the Whales and the Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whale Migration Route Tour visited our shores on the 20th August. The gathering, hosted at the Melting Pot, was the second of its kind in the Maputo National Park that this year found some 50 participants (yes, we included the barmen, he he) participate. The afternoon started off with a very interesting and insightful presentation by Dr Deborah Robertson-Andersson who shared her extensive knowledge on whales and whaling that took place on the East African seaboard before the hunting ban was put in place. Dr Diana Rocha, who has been recently completed her Phd finished off the day with an insightful presentation on the impact of marine based tourism on the resident bottlenose dolphins in the Maputo National Park. Image: Organisers, Presenters and Host of the Welcoming the Whales Event 2023. The following day was synchronised whale watching day and what a day it was with our team spending most of the morning and early afternoon at sea - collecting data and counting whales. The day saw operators from Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya take part for the 15th year running. Some 564 whales were counted in Mozambique with most sightings coming out of Inhambane, followed by Zavora and then Ponta do Ouro. A great effort put in by all participants. Skippers, dive masters and dolphin swim facilitators who were unable to attend Saturday presentations due to work commitments were offered the opportunity to participate in a second session given by Dr Diana on the 28th August. We would like to take this opportunity to give out heartfelt thanks to community members, Blowing Bubbles, Back to Basics and the commercial Dolphin Centre for your attendance and participation in this very important presentation. Image: Organisers, Dr Diana Rocha presenting to operators and community members.. With the success of of this special week, we look forward to Welcoming the Whales in 2024.

Meet SAM bdt damaged pec, whhaaaaattttt?????? By now you must be thinking that's a silly name! It mumbo jumbo, non sensical and - just how many SAMS can you have?! SAM stands for a sub-adult male, BDT represents bottlenose-dolphin-top and damaged pec indicates there is an identifying feature that can be used. If we can run a search; for example damaged pec in our archive, all video and images archived as damaged pec will come up to reference. While doing this a couple of days ago; observations of Dalila and a male juvenile WITH a damaged pec AND a top notch came up. Matching these images with the more recent one, we were able to confirm that this SAM is Dalila's son. This spritely young male, now estimated to be 4 years old developed both pec and dorsal notches while still at mums side. Now he is out hanging with same aged males and females in-between certain get together behaviours. As per tradition, we tend to try and name the babes with the first letter of mums name. So in this case we are looking for a cool name, that starts with a D and indicates a male! Leave your suggestions in the comments! Did you know you can adopt a dolphin of ponta family line by visiting our Partners at GRD.

Ponta do Ouro- Mozambique; On 13 August 2023, MNP ranger Filimon reported the stranding of a large toothed whale. Dr Diana Rocha and Angie Gullan, together with the Park, visited the site in order to gather further information. The species was confirmed as a Short Finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus), a female measuring 3.89m in length. The animal looked to be in good condition, except for evidence of a small aquatic bush meat harvest and a swollen lower mandible as pointed out by Tim Collins. Warning! Graphic Images From left to right: Top; Stranded Short-Finned Pilot Whale; Dr Diana Rocha taking samples and measurements. Bottom; Close-up of teeth; swollen lower mandible; closeup of genital area. Measurements and a blubber sample was taken, which will be delivered to Dr Almeida Guissamulo (Natural History Museum Maputo). Full necropsy and animal retrieval was not possible due to the incoming tide. The whale was left on the beach and it is hoped that in the coming weeks, as the animal decomposes, some carcass may be retrieved. This stranding marks the 43rd event recorded in the area on marine mammals and you can read more about strandings in the SouthWestern Indian ocean by referencing Mozambique in this recent publication: Spatio­temporal trends in cetacean strandings and response in the south­western Indian Ocean:2000–2020

Welcome to the home of Angie's Dolphin Diaries. Here you will find the in-water records of encounters had with the local Dolphins of Ponta during July 2022 in the Maputo National Park (MNP).. We would like to say a heartfelt thanks for joining us on the Dolphin Boat in Ponta! Without you we would not be able to do what we love most. Thank you for your support which helps us keep track of the local #DolphinsofPonta. Please take a moment to leave a review on Facebook, google or tripadvisor 130722 120722 100722 090722 080722 070722 050722 010722

Welcome to the home of Angie's Dolphin Diaries. Here you will find the in-water records of encounters had with the local Dolphins of Ponta during June 2022 in the Maputo National Park (MNP).. We would like to say a heartfelt thanks for joining us on the Dolphin Boat in Ponta! Without you we would not be able to do what we love most. Thank you for your support which helps us keep track of the local #DolphinsofPonta. Please take a moment to leave a review on google or tripadvisor and 280622 - Albeit a little overcast and gloomy, sea state in the bay was calm and visibility good making for a great inwater encounter with the local dolphins of Ponta. This morning we shared space with dolfriends Billy and Jagger while they waited for the rest of the pod to arrive. What followed was a really cool observation of some pansy shell interaction and the cutest evil eye toby fish that had been ‘unsanded’ by one of the young juvenile males! Thank you to Julie and Katelyn for joining us this morning together with volunteer Sasha and new arrival Jana! 260622 - It was a great morning at sea with two pods spotted on encountour. First up Sheshy Dalila and Danny were seen heading south around the point and in Malongane Bay a huge pod was observed surfing - also heading south! @00:26 When two girls argue 😱 and you are caught in the middle of a dolphin tizz! It seems the one lady wanted to circle swim, however the other lady had a jealous moment and gave her a tail slap which resulted in some open jaws - something you do not often see with females! 240622 - This morning we observed a large mixed pod of adult males, mums, babes and singletons traveling south along backline. It was a stampede of bottlenose dolphins as they passed through while slowing for bouts of conscious interaction and circle swimming. 180622 - The on-shore was up early this morning as we pushed in as the sun was coming up! At the top of our northern range we observed a large nursery pod who were between resting, surfing and socialising. 170622 - Whales ahoy! The season is upon us as we found ourselves spotting two groups of humpback whales heading north; one breaching in the distance and one group traveling! Today a large pod was observed milling in the bay very close to the surf zone. The comings and goings of the males which included Skelletor and Ivan found us surrounded by boys who spent time bottom rubbing and socialising amongst an array of interesting vocalisations @ 02::00 which also includes the moaning of a whale in the distance. 080622- It’s always nice to catch up with dolfriends, and when it happens on WOD is even better! This morning Beever and his band of brothers were observed in Ponta Bay, with female Silva in the area too but not ‘with’ the males. In-water, adult males Beever and Thunder came to engage, with him offering up a close up view of how dolphins like to show off their catch - well he did at least! Towards the end of the encounter which lasted just over 5 minutes, a far younger, whistling male stayed to engage before leaving what looked like semen floating in the water - where is the sample bottle when you need it! 050622 - It was a misty, misty morning; however as the sun rose and burnt off the foggy skies so looking for little dorsal fins became easier. The westerly was upon us earlier than expected and outside temperatures chilly to say the least. In the northern reaches of the adjacent Bay we observed two pods of bottlenose dolphins, the first disappeared on approach and the second - a group of some 22-30 individuals comprised of females, mums and babes in the company of adult males and a humpback dolphins (too far to confirm if it was Herme and sadly our ID camera equipment suffered the salt water death). The pod was milling off backline, making in-water observations difficult, however we were approached as they came offshore, passing through with some sub-adult females, Billy and Daisy slowing for a bit of conscious interaction before heading north with the rest of the ‘resters’.

Welcome to the home of Angie's Dolphin Diaries. Here you will find the in-water records of encounters had with the local Dolphins of Ponta during May 2022 in the Maputo National Park (MNP).. Please scroll down to find your encountour date. We would like to say a heartfelt thanks for joining us on the Dolphin Boat in Ponta! Without you we would not be able to do what we love most. Thank you for your support which helps us keep track of the local #DolphinsofPonta. Please take a moment to leave a review on google or tripadvisor! 280522 - There was no activity in Ponta Bay this morning, however as we headed north into Malongane, two fins flashed close to the boat. On inspection, we noted residents Rocha, her babe Rona and it looks like a pregnant Silva. The three females were hanging out, seemingly waiting; with Rona confidently engaging and swimming between snorkelers - showing off her remora! Twenty minutes later, the three of them were joined and whisked away by Skelletor and some other males and females who continued traveling south. Trailing them was sub-adult male Shiva in the company of 8 other young males who were socialising amongst themselves. Jellyfish season is upon us and we had a great observation of two young males engaging with a large jelly by whacking it with their tail - dislodging some of the brittle star fish! 260522 - Today the local dolphins were spotted heading south though Ponta bay. The pod of some 20 individuals were in two groups that comprised of a nursery with mum Adot, followed by sub-adults males Gandalf and Pluto. The pods were traveling close to backline and opted not to stick aground and engage today. 24/250522 - AISM After a great presentation yesterday @ Gala Gala to the Grade 5 students from @AISM we headed off to sea as the sun rose over the ocean. Our first tour observed a large, mixed pod of our finned friends that included Herme the Humpback dolphin who were traveling south, hugging the Point. Not long afterwards, we observed Bo and Silva in the company of a young female slightly offshore. Our second encountour of the morning found conditions had slightly worsened as the wind picked up and with no dolphins around, we opted for a shallow reef snorkel instead. The following day found dolphins sighted throughout the morning in the coastal shallows with our sunrise encounter seeing Herme in the company of a large mixed pod including our Bo and newly named Becca who is 100% healed from her shark bite. Our second and third encountours found us observing large adult males Rob, Tik and Dylan escorting the same nursery pod, although this time Herme and the younger males had split from the group. Thank you to both the parents and teachers from @AISM for entrusting us with your children! To the students, thank you for your enthusiasm and courage to get into the big blu with us. 250522 - Third Encountour 250522 - Second Encountour 250522 - Sunrise Encountour 240522 Sunrise Encountour 190522 - Sunrise Encountour An interesting morning spent in the company of some of our local dolfriends. Bo and babe were seen in the company of Silva around the point offshore. With long dive times and not much surface activity, it was clear that there was some action down below; yip - just as Bo’s babe open jawed and fled off in-shore there was the a large shark below us who had cleary come up to take a look - or was in pursuit of the little one, who has recently survived a predation event! Our second sighting found Rocha and Rona traveling with a pod of young males heading north. Little Rona has developed quite the lesion on her head, possibly from the large remora that has been accompanying her for the past many months. Low and behold, the newlay damaged fin that we saw a couple of weeks ago in the distance, is in-fact local male Gandalf, the son of Gilly! As you can see quite the fin damage - the cause; possibly a shark (however there are no other lesions) or fishing line with a series of hooks. 180522 - Sunrise Encountour A small pod of male bottlenose dolphins were observed just south of Malongane Bay and were travelling close to backline. The bunch of boys included Pluto,Freddy and Ulrich! 160522 - Sunrise Encountour The beastly easterly was up early this morning and we were greeted by unexpected bumpy seas. Our efforts were rewarded though with two pods of bottlenose dolphins sighted. The first pod, a small long diving group was seen off the Point, while in Ponta Bay a large mixed pod was sighted socialising and traveling south. In-water we were greeted by dolphins who spent time between themselves down below while circle swimming and socialising with observers up above. 140522 - Sunrise Encountour A beautiful ocean greeted us this morning which was perfect for our Techobanine long launch! Our offshore run up the coast observed ONLY three Pan-tropical spotted dolphins offshore in the company of a young bottlenose dolphin. As to what the little bottlenose dolphin was doing in the company of the adult Spotties is unclear! Sometime later, while cruising south in-shore, we observed two large pods on our local Bottlenose in Malongane bay - one comprising mostly of males who were traveling and the other a mixed pod of mums, babes and young ladies who were keen for a bit of a human visit. A great way to say to end the tour with our German guests from @Sunway Safair’s! 130522 Sunrise Encountour The wind was up early this morning and as we were pushing in the onshore was already starting to blow. It was not long after we launched that we located a large nursery pod heading south, surfing and socialising in backline. It is great having @SunWay Safair’s back on board again. Needless to say we had a bunch of very happy Germans who were able to get unclose to our resident dolfriends! 100522 - Sunrise Encountour Dolfriends hunting in the bay this morning as the sun rose over Ponta bay. As we pushed in a small pod of bottlenose dolphins was observed - chasing. In-water we were able to observe a young male with his catch of the day! 080522 - Sunrise Encountour Calm seas, calm peeps and calm dolfriends! Another beautiful May day in Ponta do Ouro for dolphin encountours! Local ladies Sabby, Savanna and Sunny were seen with their babes in the company of females Maria and Beijo who were traveling south. 070522 - Sunrise Encountour This morning we observed two different pods as the sun was coming up! First up, With and Lucy were recoded hunting south of the point in the company of one other, while a little later, Bo was seen with her babe in the company of another young female - also hunting! 060522 - Sunrise Encountour Dolphins surfing AGAIN this morning as we launched! We were blessed to share space with some friendlies in the bay again this morning with local Dolphins of Ponta Freya and her babe, little Rona, Billy and Switch! 050522 Sunrise encountour - In the bay swims happen seldom, but when the do….. As we were about to put on our lifejackets to launch, some bottlenose dolphins came surfing around the Point and did not stop until they got all the way into the Bay! With the tide just right, local ladies Ritz, Lucy and Switch together with mums Sheshy and Adot with their babes made it across the sandbank were they stayed and milled around with us! 030522 - Today did not disappoint with 6 sightings had of the local dolphins of ponta throughout the morning in the coastal shallows of both Ponta and Malongane Bays. With glassy, clean seas dolphin spotting and snorkelling was made easy! Our sunrise encountour observed a large nursery pod of bottlenose inshore together with a singleton who was making way towards them and, as we were about to beach, a 20 strong bunch of mixed age males including Herme the humpback, Skelletor and Avalon could be seen peeling around the Point surfing as they continued their travels north. By launch two, Herme was spotted on his own and two large mixed pods were observed, one offshore and one in backline! Second encountour 030522 Sunrise encountour 020522 -Stepping into magical May with a busy day for the dolphin team. We have to admit it is sooooo good being out on the water again with three launches. Our Sunrise encountour spotted two pods of dolphins, first up Herme the humpback was seen milling off Point Point - as if waiting, and a little while later, while cruising north towards Malongane we observed a large nursery pod surfing and socialising just off backline. Our second encountour of the morning found the large pod had moved off with not much dolphin activity around, however on our return to Ponta Bay mums Rocha and her mum Bo were seen with their babes. It was breakfast time and Rocha had a HUGE fish in her mouth, possibly a Milkfish, Springer or Bone fish:-) Our third encountour of the day found no dolphin activity at all. By now our dolfriends had all moved off. A little disappointing yes, but this is the way of the wilds…. 020522 Second encountour 020522 Sunrise encountour

Welcome to the home of Angie's Dolphin Diaries. Here you will find the in-water records of encounters had with the local Dolphins of Ponta during March 2022 in the Maputo National Park (MNP).. Please scroll down to find your encountour date. We would like to say a heartfelt thanks for joining us on the Dolphin Boat in Ponta! Without you we would not be able to do what we love most. Thank you for your support which helps us keep track of the local #DolphinsofPonta. Remember to check back every week to get updates on what our finned friends are getting up to! 310322 - A large mixed pod of bottlenose nose was observed heading south this morning through Ponta Bay. Visibly was somewhat down however this did not deter from a really great encounter which saw bouts of circle swimming with various members of the group including females Tatti, Beijo and Maria as well as adult male Theo! 290322 - This morning there our finned friends were far and few between. After making our way all the way up to Ponta Madajanine, it was only on our return to Ponta Bay did we observe two youngsters making their way to our boat for a bow-ride. In-water were were welcomed by a juvenile male and female that were keen for a bout of conscious interaction! 280322 - 8am By mid morning the large mixed pod had moved off, however there was still much bottlenose dolphin activity in the coastal shallows with three small pods observed! It was however our last sighting that found us in the company of female Tatti and one other who were keen for a human visit. 280322 - Our Sunrise encountour observed a mixed pod of adults and sub adults surfing and socialising in Ponta Bay. It was however adult male Cholo and Gandalf that come in to engage while the rest of the pod headed south. 270322 - After trekking all the way to our northern rage up in Madajanine - a mixed pod of adults was observed in Ponta Bay off backline heading south. 250322 - Dolfriends in the bay! Not long after we launched did we observe a large pod milling in the bay. In-water it was Ritz, Lucy and Ginger who chose to break away from the resters to come and engage! 230322 - After yesterdays bountiful dolphin day - we were blessed to have the local Dolphins of Ponta still chilling in Ponta Bay. The mixed pod of bottlenose dolphins was sighted as we launched surfing and socialising in the coastal shallows! 220322 - American International School Maputo Today we had the pleasure of taking the Grade 6 students from the American International School in Maputo to sea to meet the local Dolphins of Ponta who were very kind to us and graced us with in-water visits on all four tours! Thank you to the AISM and Parents for trusting us with the ocean experience and thank you to the Grade 6’s for your enthusiasm, questions and willingness to participate and face some fears! Launch 1 Notable observations: 00:22 Direct approach and conscious interaction with adult female Maria 01:05 Females Maria and Lucy arrive for a bout of circle swimming Launch 2: Notable observations: 00:57 Conscious interaction with adult male Chucky 02:41 Little girl Ginger comes for a visit Launch 3: Notable observations: 00:41 Direct approach and conscious interaction with female Ginger and juvenile male 01:31 Rocha and little Rona approach 04:11 Adult male Beever passes through Launch 4: Notable observations: 00:04 Direct app arch and conscious interaction with females Switch and O2 210322 - 8am Encountour Our second encountour of the morning found two pods of resting bottlenose dolphins just south of Ponta Madadajanine. This time however there was no-one up for a bout of interaction so we simply floated calming in the surface and watched them silently pass by. 210322 - Sunrise Encountour After two days of no sightings we were all relieved to have the local Dolphins of Ponta back! Not long after we launched Mitch saw some bottlenose dolphins heading inshore. Slipping in we were met with a cacophony of whistles and buzzes as mums SheShy and O2 arrived on the scene with babes and a bunch of youngsters who were seemingly enjoying the human visit as much as we were enjoying them! Notable observations: 00:11 Direct approach from females SheShy and O2 00:56 Young female Switch - conscious interaction 02:03 Young female vertical hang in water 10:17 Sub-adult males coming through 120322 - Dolphinville in Ponta Bay again this morning with a large mixed pod of the local Dolphins of ponta surfing and socialising in the Bay. Great to connect with Blossom once more - you can check out her healed up broken jaw in the images AND we got multiple visits from Daisy and her newbie! Notable Observations: 01:13 Direct approach by adult female Tatti 01:26 Direct approach and conscious interaction with Blossom (damaged jaw) 02:49 Adult male approaches followed by Ivan 02:53 03:11 Belly up circle swimming and conscious interaction with young females 06:16 Daisy and her calf of the year 100322 - Another amazing morning spent in the company of the local Dolphins of Ponta. By 06:30am we had located a large mixed pod of some 20 bottlenose dolphins surfing and socialising inshore. Notable Observations: 00:06 Direct approach by bottlenose dolphins 00:21 Elvis singles out Candice for a circle swim 00:40 Theo joins for a bout of conscious interaction 00:47 Direct approach by Elvis 01:07 Female Tatti 03:01 Direct approach from female Ritz 03:07 Little girl Ginger - poop plume 070322 - Our second Encountour of the day found two pods in the Bay, the large nursery pod observed heading offshore some two hours earlier, were now snugly hugging backline resting. Notable observations: 00:04 Bottlenose dolphins bow-riding 00:53 Direct approach by young mother and calf of the year 01:00 Young female slows for a bout of conscious interaction 070322 - Sunrise Encountour Great conditions greeted us this morning as did friendly dolfriends on our sunrise encountour with two pods of the local dolphins of ponta observed in the bay. Little girl Ginger was in the company of mum Adot and her babe chilling in Ponta Bay, seemingly waiting.… Some 20 minutes later, the three of them merged with a large mixed pod and stated heading offshore. Notable observations: 00:00 Dolphins waiting on the bow 00:28 Conscious interaction with Ginger and Adot’s offspring 01:00 Adot arrives and babe resumes the position 01:18 Ginger stays for a visit and lets out a big bubble @ 01:42 *could she have been using the silky smooth waters surface as a mirror to check herself out? 050322 - As we launched this morning there were bottlenose dolphins in Ponta Bay. Little girl Ginger was observed in the company with Freddy, Adot’s little boy and slightly older female. Notable observations: 00:35 Belly up from male Freddy 00:55 Ginger with a fish 01:01 Freddy son with remora 01:13 From left Adot’s son, female Ginger, male Freddy, Uni’d female 01:30 Males dive, Ginger stays to engage 02:46 Direct approach from bottom 03:16 Freddy mouthing Ginger 04:00 Pec petting after circle swim 04:23 Ginger clearly want s to stay and visit, he he 05:30 young male Freddy getting impatient with the encounter and cuts off Angie 05:52 Ginger poop plume *possibly signalling the end of the encounter 040322 - This morning two small pods of bottlenose dolphins were observed in the bay - one of which had Herme the humpback in their company! Dolphins of Ponta Elvis, Theo and Snap were accompanying Freya and Adot with their babes before they joined up with Herme who was in the seemingly escorting Freddy, Ginger and another young female. Notable observations: 00:35 Direct approach by adult male Elvis 00:59 Adult Male Snap 02:08 Elvis poop plume 02:57 Herme the humpback dolphin 04:49 Conscious interaction with Ginger and Freddy 030322 - A mixed pod of bottlenose dolphins were observed in Malongane Bay heading inshore. Amongst the local dolphins of ponta seen were adult males Skellitor and Avalon with ladies Sheshy and Lucy! Notable observations: 00:16 Direct approach by females, including Beetrix, SheShy and Ritz 01:28 Adult males including Avalon and Skellitor approach popping 01:37 Same males start jaw clapping Rest of the pod passes with adult males

Welcome to the home of Angie's Dolphin Diaries. Here you will find the in-water records of encounters had with the local Dolphins of Ponta during February 2022 in the Maputo National Park (MNP).. Please scroll down to find your encountour date. We would like to say a heartfelt thanks for joining us on the Dolphin Boat in Ponta! Without you we would not be able to do what we love most. Thank you for your support which helps us keep track of the local #DolphinsofPonta. Remember to check back every week to get updates on what our finned friends are getting up to! 280222 - This morning we found a little more dolphin activity in the coastal shallows with Elvis, Theo and Snap in the company of some young females! Visibility is still poor, however we were fortune that some of our dolfriends were up for a visit on the last day of our shoot for Kids on Safari with Peter and Zaria Lamberti from Lion Media Films! Notable observations: 00:11 Direct approach from female bottlenose dolphin to camera girl Malua 00:23 Same female comes in for a bout of conscious interaction and circle swimming 00:47 Adult male approaches and cuts into the interactions, singling the end of the encounter 260222 - It was an interesting morning at sea with a very large swell, poor visibility and very few dolfriends around. Our sunrise encountour had no sightings at all, however our second trip of the day observed two dyads; mums Rocha and Sabby in Malongane Bay with their babes. Notable observations: 00:02 Direct approach by mum Rocha 00:25 Her daughter Rona joins in 00:46 Passing by Rachel with her recording array 240222 - 8am Encountour. The dolphins were clearly happy in the bay as they were still hanging out in the coastal shallows and surf. It was another great in-water encounter with the local Dolphins of Ponta that included some object play with various species of sargassum (seagrass/weed)! Notable Observations 00:27 Mature female and mum Savanna approaches 01:44 Female picks up a piece of sargassum (seagrass/weed), approaches and drops off 03:13 Female’s belly-up dive to check-out Rachels recording equipment 03:45 This time the ladies have found themselves a softer and longer fronded piece of sargassum to adorn themselves with before the arrival of another group of young females 240222 - Sunrise encountour. It was Dolphinville in Ponta Bay this morning with a large mixed pod socialising and surfing inshore. The surf is up and the local Dolphins of Ponta were catching some waves! It was not long before some sub-adults made their way out to the boat for a great bout of conscious interaction! Notable Observations 00:15 Conscious interaction while whistling 00:23 Belly show by female 02:47 Female Beijo (kiss in Portuguese) 03:05 Interesting show of jaw claps and open jaws from females 03:38 Female Beijo jaw clap 03:51 Two further females arrive on the scene and stay to engage 04:45 Guests having a circle swim with mature female 05:24 Mum Blossom passes with her son 230222 - This morning as we launched, mature female Danny was seen in the company of another mum and babe and a bunch of kids who were socialising in Ponta Bay. We did a quick check on the the moored hydrophone that Rachel and Sasha deployed and are happy to report she is still well placed and EVEN had dolphins visit when Sasha dropped in to check! Notable observations: 00:11 Direct approach by young bottlenose dolphins 00:36 Mature female Danny 210222 - Today we are joined by Rachel and Sacha from SeaSeach who will be with us for the next week collecting data on our local dolphins! An interesting morning at sea with unusually low bottlenose dolphin activity in the coastal shallows between Ponta do Ouro and Madajanine. It was only on our return around the Point did we observe a small nursery pod of only 5 individuals including Adot and Rocha (part of Rachel study) with their babes. Notable observations: 00:26 Here comes mum Adot and her male calf with a small remora 00:36 Mum Rocha with her daughter Rona with a jumbo sized remora 190222 - Our second encounter of the day observed two pods of dolphins, first up Shiva and Billy in the company of another young male heading south across the border line and the second a large pod of Bottlenose dolphins socialising in Madadjanine Bay. Notable observations: 00:24 Direct approach by young male bottlenose dolphins 00:39 Conscious interaction with sub-adult females 01:26 Direct approach by Daisy and her babe 190222 - Sunrise Encountour; a great start to our Dolphin Retreat this morning with the ladies from Zero Point Healing. Beautiful moments spent in the company of local Dolphins of Ponta Ritz, Ginger, Gandalf and Jagger to name a few. Notable observations: 00:18 Rocha and Rona pass by 00:56 Very close approach by young female 01:07 Direct approach from Gandalf (pseudo-stalked barnacle) 03:33 Belly up approach by young female 03:53 Debbie have a close encounter with a young female 160222- This morning we observed sub adult males Gandalf, Pluto, Shiva and Gambit who were pre-occupied with something offshore…. Little bottlenose dolphin Billy was seen shortly after, milling in the bay with little Rona. Notable observations include: 00:12 Teenager Gandalf with his stalked barnacle growth stops to engage 01:53 Juvenile Billy and Rocha’s daughter Rona with her remora 02:52 Conscious interaction and circle swimming with Billy Observation duration: 3:45mins 140222 - Dolphin activity was down in the coastal shallows with only a small pod of two females seen off Malongane Point. Adult female Tatti was in the company of Lucy who was foraging down below. Notable observations include: 00:00 Direct approach by adult female Tatti 00:24 Teenager Lucy arrives with a little fish in her beak 01:23 A slow and conscious bout of interaction with Tatti (pregnant?) 03:07 Lucy approaches from below - returning from a bottom grubbing session on a small patch of reef below. 04:36 Lucy and Tatti on the reef patch 05:03 Lucy returns back to surface to breath up with fish in her beak before diving again 08:33 Lucy returns - this time, fish in tummy Observation duration: 9mins 130222 - We are ALWAYS humbled when mums leave their little ones to engage with us! This morning while the rest of pod were resting in close proximity, Rocha’s little girl Rona was allowed to come and visit on her own! Thank you to Amid and his party together with Mari, Sasha and Nolan for joining us on the dolphin boat this morning! Notable observations include: 00:12 Lucy with some fresh rake marks 00:34 Little girl Rona - conscious interaction 00:42 Rona and her remora! 120222 - Two pods of dolphins this morning in the area. By 6:13am we located a small pod, long and deep diving south of the point. Ladies Silva and Jagger were amongst the pod of young males that included Pluto who were making their way offshore. Some 30 minutes later, just south of Ponta Madadjanine a nursery pod was observed socialising. Tatti, Adot and Lucy were seen with Rocha and her little girl Rona who STILL has that pesky remora! Thank you to Andre, Sandra’s and Richards part for joining us this morning! Notable observations include: 00:01 Female Jagger 00:23 Male Pluto 02:54 Adult female with shark bite wound 03:00 Pregnant female with seaweed/grass 04:15 Direct approach from female Rocha 04:42 Bottom rubbing and bottom grubbing 05:16 Female Tatti 06:11 Little girl Rona (daughter of Rocha) and her pesky remora 06:48 Youngster socialising down below 100222 - We were greeted with great conditions this morning and it was not long before we came across a pod of bottlenose dolphins socialising in the bay. Thank you to our guests from @Gala for joining us this morning on the dolphin boat! Notable observations include: 01:05 Direct approach by female Daisy (B.39 bdm) and her newborn 01:12 Juvenile dolphin snatches up what is left of a tobie/puffer fish 01:31 Males can be heard popping and Ivan comes past with seaweed draped over his fluke/tail 02:31 Direct approach and conscious interaction with female Scarf 06:06 Young dolphin pooping 07:42 Approach by young female jagger 08:41 Direct approach and conscious interaction with Daisy and her new baby 090222 - After the past few days of large surf, this morning, although the wind was down the swell was still bigggg!!!! None the less we observed two different pods of bottlenose dolphins slightly offshore. Local dolphins of Ponta Bo and Silva together with Billy and Rykie were some of our finned friends encountered today! Notable observations include: 00:02 dolphins in the company of queen fish 00:06 direct approach and conscious interaction with Rykie and Billy 01:00 direct approved and conscious interaction with Silva in the company of a calf 01:44 Silva returns, this time in the company with Bo who’s calf is now by her side 02:10 Bo poops😂 02:12 genital show by female Silva 050222- Mr Dolphin Eye Dallas picked up a pod of dolphins surfing just on the border line heading north.With a rather chunky swell we watched and waited patiently until the pod had made their way around the point into the bay. It was there that we were enjoyed a bout of conscious interaction with a young female, before being mock-charged and jaw clapped by some males who were clearly adamant that they should not be pursued. Notable observations include: 00:06 Conscious interaction and circle swimming with a young sub adult female 01:38 Males make their way towards snorkelers jaw clapping, screeching and mock charging 02:31 Direct approach by female Ritz who slowed for a circle swim while in the company of males Theo and Snap 030222 - The beastly easily was up early today when we pushed in. It was however not long after that we observed a pod of some 15 mostly males milling and socialising inshore. Some notable observation include: 00:17 Direct approach from male Pluto 01:05 Direct approach with jaw clapping and screeching from males 01:50 Male on male social sexual behaviour 010222 - This morning found us spending time in the company in a mostly male pod of bottlenose dolphins who were with mum O2 and her babe. Some notable observations include: 00:23 Direct approach by Gandalf (10) and males who slow to engage 00:42 Female O2 and her babe 01:23 Adult male with healed shark bite (check out the original injury image below video). 01:38 Direct approach by Jack 02:18 Gandalf returns for a visit Adult male with shark bite 291221, photographed 010222 almost all healed up.