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Spotlight on local #dolphinsofponta Elvis (C.32 bdt) this #finfriday who made in onto the catalogue in 2010. Elvis received his name because of his circle swimming which was and still is close and often eye to eye! For many years Elvis was seen in the company of Theo and Fye who are of same age and sex. The young males, when growing up enjoyed human visits and would break pod formation to come and inspect us two leggards. As the years passed, these boys were regularly encountered in the bay - however things changed for them in 2014 when Fye just disappeared; so far never to be seen again. It was in the June of that year that the three boys were last recorded in-water together. They disappeared off the radar so to speak until photo evidence arose in the December of 2014 showing Elvis with a set of rake marks and a new mid notch. Elvis had had a run in with a large predator, possibly offshore while visiting whales during the migration. Elvis is still around and still has a very engaging personality, sometimes getting a little too close for comfort. - When the pressure is up or the pod has something more important to do - he will be the first to let you know. Some may remember his open jaws, mock charges and jaw claps! Check out the video below of Elvis and the boys chasing Diana after a swimmer broke the code of conduct and dived down…. In 2015, Elvis had another major fin makeover which makes him super easy to identity today in the Ponta do Ouro Partial Martine Reserve. He is still bf’s with Theo and is also seen regularly with Snap (another open jaw-er) and humpback dolphin Herme. 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!

7 Night stay in Nkumbe Eco-Estate and Full Dolphin Encountour package for you and THREE friends VALUED AT over R20,000! Dolphin Encountours has become an inspiring non-profit entity that holds a special place in our past client’s hearts. With the rise of Covid-19 the tourism industry has fallen but we owe it to YOU, the Dolphins of Ponta, our Partners and our Staff to ensure that we survive this pandemic. In order to do this we need YOUR SUPPORT to keep our staff fed, healthy and happy and to ensure that we CAN continue on our mission of creating unforgettable experiences through meaningful work, and of course- looking after our finned friends! With the help from our good friend Rob Hardstone, we have set up this raffle just for YOU! - HOW TO ENTER - Click the LINK BELOW. Donate a minimum of $10 to our fundraiser and comment DOLPHIN RAFFLE. SHARE our fundraising campaign onto your Facebook Page (You can find it on our Facebook Page and share it from there- Dolphin Encountours Research Center). Every $10 Donation will count as one entry- Feel free to enter more than once. The more you enter the better your chance of winning this once in a lifetime trip! FULL DOLPHIN ENCOUNTOURS PACKAGE Dolphin Encountours is situated in Ponta do Ouro, just over a 15 minute drive from the Nkumbe Eco-Estate. You will join us on three of our amazing WILD Dolphin Encountours during your stay at Nkumbe. This will include: 3 Sunrise launches (1,5Hr) Dolphin Snorkel Course Pre-launch boat & ocean safety. DolphinCare Code of conduct Introduction to our Dolphins of Ponta. Snorkel tax & Gear use (mask, snorkel, fins) Snorkelling over our beautiful reefs Dolphin Diary video & images of your tour[online] Dolphin Tribe Tee-Shirt 7 NIGHT STAY IN NKUME ECO-ESTATE Nkumbe is one of the largest Southern Mozambique residential eco-estates which covers 247 hectares of pristine bush-veld. The Estate is situated near Ponta Malongane and ensures a very relaxing bush getaway. Being very close to Ponta do Ouro one can enjoy the hustle and bustle of restaurants and beaches by day and retire to the quietude of nature by night. The pristine coastal bush-veld has an unbelievable selection of birdlife and small game, which include red duiker, bush-pig and mongoose, and larger antelope such as impala, nyala, bushbuck, reedbuck and zebra. 41 Hardjaard is a private house in the eco-estate that can accommodate four adults and two children. The house will be subject to availability. The draw will take place on June 30th at 5pm (SAST) via a LIVE Facebook post on our Dolphin Encountours Research Center Facebook Page. Everyone who has donated $10+ before the raffle will automatically stand a chance to WIN! GOOD LUCK, We hope to see YOU SOON! We would like to thank Rob Hardstone and his family for the kind donation! ---ENTER HERE---

Dpec aka Summer was first recored in the spring of 2009, he is the son of local #dolphinofponta Spring - and when first sighted was a newborn - we can tell this by the foetal lines that were still visible! In the December of 2012, at the tender age of three he had already had a run in with some fishing line which left him with a deformed pectoral fin. Two years later he was still seen in the company of mom who was pregnant with her second offspring. Above: Dpec with fishing line By 2015, he had broken away form mom and was finding his way in the bay with youngsters his similar age, including girls Rykie and Ritz. His ventral speckling started nicely by the next year and he had developed a nice notched dorsal fin too; he also damaged his lower jaw, and just like Cheeky had stalked barnacles attached there as well as to his damaged pectoral. Left: 09/2015 S.barnacle on pec Image: 05/2016 S.barnacles gone Dpec is now 11 years old, still with his jaw stalked barnacle and is one of our finned friends that is not shy of a circle swim with humans. Fin 2010 Fin 2016 Above: Dpec 01/2018 Video: Dpec circle swimming 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!

Todays #finfriday spot goes to local #dolphinofponta Cheeky (B.19 bd49m) who was first officially identified in the April of 2003! At that stage he was a teenage boy that was estimated to be around 10 years old - so today he is around 27! That means he was a little calf when our founders first started visiting the dolphins in 1994! Cheeky has a super cool dorsal fin and as you can see there has not been too much change since he first made it onto the catalogue - but that’s not all! Fin 2009 Fin 2017 He, like dolfriend Silva has a very unique and distinctive scar running down from the corner of his mouth - on both sides. Above: Silva Left: Cheeky At his time of naming he had a stalked barnacle aka Xenobalanus Globicipitis growing on his bottom jaw. We are all pretty much familiar with the barnacles that are often seen on whales, these however are of the softer variety which is a parasitic organism that only attaches to the host for transportation purposes. Left: 04/2003 stalked barnacle on rostrum Image: 11/2003 note the shark bite Angie's Dolphin Diary Memoirs 30 April 2004 The second launch of the day found us locating the same pod that was now 2 distinct groups. The nursery pod was estimated at ±30 individuals with the bachelor pod of 22. Amongst the males, Cheeky and Tinka could be seen. The swim started out very interactive with dolphins socialising below and around us. They then proceeded to start slowly moving offshore, 7 fell back and started posturing, and then some burst pulse sounds, whistling, a jaw clap and a scuffle down below. Then out of the blue came 2 dolphins at high speed passing very close. I then called the swim off as the dolphins had made it clear that we had overstayed our welcome. It was then noted that the group moved off in a chase inshore. Video: Listen to dolphins communicate & watch Cheeky chase Gaza & get a tail slap. 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!

Dolphin of Ponta 'Adot' Today is our first #finfriday! Local #DolphinofPonta ADot first made it onto the DolphinCare catalogue in 2007! She has been a regular in our Reserve now for over a decade and the dolphin team have had the honour of watching her raise a number of babies in the coastal shallows of the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve in Mozambique! If you are wondering what the bracketed numbers is - this is her official code on the catalogue. Dolphin of Ponta 'Beever' Local #DolphinofPonta Beever first made it onto the catalogue in 1999. Beever is an adult male who can get a bit excited when visiting us humans - he is known for fast and tight bouts of circle swims and conscious interaction. Beaver is named after one of our original founders, he has a pretty cool and recognisable dorsal fin and a white spot (not to be confused with Lolly and Rob) that makes him easier to identify in a sea of dolfriends! He is often seen in the company of Buster, Nelson and now deceased Cremildo! We estimate Beaver to be around 22 years old! 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!

Making the decision to take a gap year after school was a big step for me. It made me anxious and unsure of myself. I have always had a passion for the ocean, so I took a chance, threw myself into the deep end (literally) and decided to volunteer with Angie and the Dolphin Encountours Research Center in Ponta Do Ouro, Mozambique. I will never forget my first dolphin experience, this is were I got to meet local #dolphinsofponta mums U-Nic and Trinity in the company of their little boys! The three juvenile males The fact that my face did not get permanently stuck into that huge smile of mine is a miracle. The encountour probably lasted around 10 minutes and I absorbed every second of it. With camera in hand and eye in the viewfinder, I could feel the energy the dolphins gave off and I hope to have been able to capture that in my images. At this point, I can’t imagine being anywhere else. Whether I am reconstructing dolphin skeletons or staring at the ocean for hours to try find a pod passing by, I can’t wait to see what happens next! Hopefully I will be ready to capture it. Kira DolphinCare Volunteer January 2020

The SeaSearch team will be joining the Dolphin Research Team in the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve in Mozambique! During this time Sasha Dines will be visiting and working on her PhD "Using novel acoustic methodology to inform conservation actions for South Africa's most endangered dolphin; the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin (Sousa plumbea)” Brief Synopsis - The Indian Ocean humpback dolphin (Sousa plumbea) is South Africa’s most endangered resident marine mammal (Plön et al., 2016). There is clear evidence of an overall population decrease and behavioural adaptations over the last 3 decades. Threats include noise pollution, overfishing, boat interactions, shark nets and coastal development. The further development of Southern Africa`s Ocean Economy will increase pressure on the species, which may be unsustainable. The low numbers, cryptic behaviour and extreme inshore environment of the species restrict monitoring using traditional survey techniques. As dolphins rely heavily on acoustic channels for communication and exploration of their environment, passive acoustic monitoring offers a cost-effective option for detecting animals. Dolphins use individually distinctive signature whistles which act as acoustic labels (akin to names). Although proposed, long term monitoring of individuals using naturally occurring individually-specific signals has rarely been conducted, particularly in the marine environment. Acoustic recordings of humpback dolphins and other dolphin species encountered will feed into species classifier software that will allow for automated species detection in the longterm. During this time we aim to undertake dedicated field trips which will find us using an array of equipment including hydrophones, recorders and camera’s both in-water and out to further study our local population of dolphins. Data will be processed and analysed to use in conservation measures to further protect these vulnerable, sentient species along the African coastline. We have four spaces for volunteers who would like to dive in and explore the way of wild dolphins and this fascinating area of research. Volunteers can expect to gain knowledge on ethical and responsible dolphin tourism that funds research and conservation through: Boat & in-water data & image capturing. Data entry & image cropping and cataloguing for Dolphins of Ponta id project. Preparation of educational/information boards. Educational orientation with tourists. Fielding questions are our visitors Center. Marine animal stranding assistance. Bone/skeleton preparation, cataloguing & reconstruction for public display. Tourist / lodge surveys. Beach and micro plastic surveys. Dates: 25 January to 23 February There is a once of fee of R22 200 which includes: Accommodation sharing 30 nights Two meals per day Training for specific tasks DolphinCare contribution Field trips ~ 3 p/week Mentoring by the Dolphin Team Dolphin Pack with t-shirts to be worn while working, certificate of attendance, pictures & dolphin diaries from your stay; information on our dolphins, research & interesting reference papers. Gear use (mask, snorkel and fins) Return private transfer from Maputo International* To reserve your spot please email the angie@dolphincare.org * Return transfers are based on a group of 4 sharing a private transfer that collects you at 3pm - Maputo International Airport and drops off at 3pm on departure day. Times may change depending on group arrivals.

Loggerhead Turtle Necropsy On the 6th of December 2019 the Dolphin Team received the news of a deceased Loggerhead Turtle found by Reserve Rangers. The turtle was seen dead on the beach at Ponta Dobela and transported to Ponta do Ouro for post mortem examination. To better understand the cause of death of this endangered species Dolphin Encountours Research Center conducted a necropsy. For educational purposes we invited a group of local school children to participate in this event. With the assistance of local school teacher –Mr Happy, principal –Petal and DolphinCare Volunteers- Simon and Elsa, the necropsy, led by Sabrina Sykes began by recording basic measurements and taking photos of the apparent shark bite marks on the carapace and flippers. The female Loggerhead Turtle (Caretta Caretta) measured at 80cm for the straight-line length of her carapace and 65cm straight-line carapace width. Her head measured at 17.5 cm wide and 24cm long. Measuring at 104 cm inclusive makes this Loggerhead turtle a fully grown adult. During the necropsy we found hundreds of developing eggs still inside her. There was no plastic found inside her stomach and no signs of visible parasite/worm infections in her main organs (heart, lungs, liver, gall bladder, stomach and spleen). She was seemingly in good health before being injured by a shark. The discolouration (purple/grey colouring) and bleeding around the bite sites lead us to believe that she was alive while the shark was biting her and that the injuries sustained by the shark are the cause of death. The Dolphin team is saddened by the loss of this healthy female Loggerhead turtle but grateful her death was due to natural causes rather than man-made obstructions or pollution. Thank you to everyone that participated in this learning experience. Please help us keep up the good work by donating to www.dolphinencountours.org/donate or joining us one one of our tours that support our research & conservation efforts in the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve.

Dolphin Greetings🐬 As some of you may know, we are currently embarking on a journey to re-build and re-establish our research centre in the heart of Ponta do Ouro🌞. This Center will act as a marine mammal educational facility that will help in educating the locals of Ponta as well as the tourists about our magnificent oceanic mammals and marine reserve. This is something that our team is extremely passionate about, but as exciting as this is, it is not an easy task. Our team has been working tirelessly to have our center up and running by the end of the year, but we are going to need some help from you, our supporters. Please watch the video and share our message to those who may be able to help us achieve our mission. We cannot thank you enough for being with us through our journey, your constant love and support really drives us to to do what we do and we cannot wait to see what the future holds!😁 DONATE HERE: https://www.dolphinencountours.org/donate

Ponta do Ouro, Mozambique - To celebrate the arrival and honour the greatness of the Humpback Whale, Friday the 5th of July saw Mozambique’s first Welcoming the Whale’s Festival taking place in the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve. Over the past decade Dolphin Encountours Research Center (DERC) has been tracking the migration of these mammoth beings. A steady increase in numbers since the abolishment of whaling now sees thousands of these sentient beings on migration as they make their way up the East African coastline to their calving and mating grounds. There are however many perils on the way, from entanglements, to ship strikes, excessive noise and tourism disturbance, these marine mammals have a lot to cope with. Through events and activities like these we can create an awareness and foster change. The day kicked off with a visit from the local school which saw 30 children learn about the humpback whale migration, why they are so special and what we can do to help them. Beach activities followed with a guided beach clean-up and micro-plastic survey. A hearty well deserved lunch followed kindly sponsored by Sapphire Sands and each child was gifted with a metal straw! The afternoon event included an opening presentation with citizen scientist and founder of DERC Angie Gullan on the history of marine mammal strandings in the reserve; followed by a talk presented by Sabrina Sykes on why whales strand and what to do in the event you find yourself in this situation. A very interesting presentation was given by Ronel Friend from Enviro Quest on the plastic pollution problem we are facing and we finished off with Llyod Edwards from Raggy Charters who wowed us with some fantastic images and information on the whales. A heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone who helped and joined us in the first Welcoming the Whales mini festival in the PPMR. For more information on how you can get involved with next years festival please contact angie@dolphincare.org

On the 27 March 2019 @ 4pm the Dolphin Encountours Team received numerous calls from concerned locals that there was a dolphin trying to beach itself at the Ponta do Ouro Main Beach. After speaking to local business owner Candice Salvesen Eardly it was established that it was an adult Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus). With dread, both Angie Gullan and PhD student Diana Rocha made their way to the beach knowing that it was more than likely one of the catalogued local Dolphins of Ponta. When we arrived we found a crowd gathered and the dolphin erratically swimming circles in the bay. Surface bobbing indicated that the dolphin was struggling to breath and shortly thereafter he lay motionless at our feet. Borrowing a mask and snorkel Angie was able to establish that it was an adult and one of the catalogued males. It was later discovered that the dolphin had been seen about an hour earlier and had washed up on the beach three times before being re-floated. Cremildo, made it onto the data sheet in March 2008 and had been a regular visitor to our waters, spending most time hanging with males Nelson and Carley. Once Cremildo's body had been pulled onto the beach we noticed he was slightly emaciated and had lacerations on his back towards his tail. His body was lifted onto an SUP and carried to a vehicle were he was then transported for storage. The following morning at sunrise Diana Rocha lead a necropsy in-which various measurements and samples were taken. Cremildo seemed to be in good health, apart from the lesions, the largest being 9cm in length and 2cm deep. Some unusual swelling was noted in the genital area and the one joint connecting the pectoral had an orange gel like substance oozing out. He measured 2,25m in length and had a maximum girth measurement of 1,09m. He was free of parasitic infections except for something small, sampled from one of his stomachs. The stomachs were empty except for a small beak from what looks like a cuttlefish or squid. There was no plastic. His body was buried for later skeleton reconstruction. At this stage we are unclear as to what caused the lesions. The injury is not consistent with other propeller fatalities documented around the globe, however boat strike and shark predation are being considered. A big shout out of thanks goes to Candice, Carien and Claire for helping on the scene as well as to the SUP gentleman and the many other people who showed concern and care. It was a sad and emotional day for many people who have spent time in the company of our local Dolphins of Ponta. A sobering cord was struck as we find ourselves pondering the cause of his demise – hoping that it is a natural event as opposed to a boating event. Cremildo is the second bottlenose dolphin to have stranded this year so far. This is the 28th stranding event that has been recorded in the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve since 1997.

Wherever you are on the planet, we hope our dolphin mail finds you well! This year has sped past at a rate of knots and before we get swum off our feet again I thought it appropriate to update you on not only what is happening in our dolphin world, but also in the place we call home. It has been a busy time for our local Dolphins of Ponta. For those of you that had been following our tales, Bo - the very first to initiate a circle swim in 1999 became a grandmother, as did her BF Gilly! For the Dolphin Team this is pretty awesome as we have been able to closely follow these two family lines…. Ponta do Ouro, Mozambiques diving Mecca has over the months undergone some dramatic changes. The road is now complete and the bridge connecting Maputo to the southern most Point is open. Non-4x4’s can comfortably get to the market, after which chaos ensues with low chassis, souped up vehicles, busses and monster trucks getting stuck on the soft, sandy roads. Paradise found is certainly Paradise lost as we wait with baited breath for the festive season. This year we have taken the decision to close from the 31st December to the 2rd of January. With previous years launch site and parking congestion together with very busy seas for our finned friends who are calving - we feel this is best. For the Love of Dolfriends! Angie Gullan and the Dolphin Team . Ambassador Bo was filmed very close to term at the end of October and by the first week of November (during rough sea’s) she calved once more. You can ADOPT Bo through our Partners in Germany at GRD! RESEARCH - CONSERVATION During the months of September and October The Dolphin Team in Ponta do Ouro, Mozambique undertook 52 launches which saw us spending 71 odd hours at sea. During this time we had 137 sightings of marine mammals that included bottlenose and humpback dolphins and spinner dolphins. Humpback whales were observed on 74 occasions and there were days were blows could be seen everywhere on the horizon. The weather has been somewhat relentless and kept us off the water 22 days in total! It has been two months full of dolphin delights too. We have hosted a number of special holistic retreats, workshops and school tours which have allowed us to be on the water and to introduce participates not only to our local dolphins of ponta but also to ways in which they can help. A constant flow of volunteers has allowed us to undertake almost weekly micro-plastic surveys in collaboration with the Big Microplastic survey. During September we co-ordinated two beach clean-up events for international coastal clean-up that saw ±250 adults and children collect 172 bags of rubbish - mostly plastic weighing in at over a tonne. Over the past two months we had 60 boat based sightings of our local dolphins of ponta. On 5 of those occasions they were in the company of our local humpback dolphins and once with some humpback whales. Dolphins were located 80% of the time when the boat was traveling north towards Ponta Malongane. In-water encounters and sightings occurred mostly (46%) in depths of 5 to 10m. Dolphins were observed traveling south 52% of the time mostly between the 5-10m mark over sand. On 22 occasions our finned friends were cruising in the backline surfing, socialising and resting. Dolphins approached the boat most of the time with only 2 boat avoidance events recorded. In-water observations occurred 76% of the time and comprised of bouts of conscious interaction; dolphins stopping to engage (Swim class A, B, C) 46% and pass-throughs (swim class D) with dolphins not stopping to engage. Swim attempts ranged from a minimum of one drop 65% of the time to max of two drops 17% and no drop at all 15%. Basic behaviour was recorded on approach of pod and comprised mostly of traveling 44%, socialising 26%, with equal time spent hunting and resting. We opened the spring calving season with our first newborn sighting on the 27th September. A second sighting was had on the 5th October which was very exciting as it included first time mum DT! For the past four years we have been observing a female with a uniquely damaged tail stock. She first made it onto our radar while in the company of Freya and her babe in October 2015 and has been sighted as far down south in Sodwana Bay back in 2014! We look forward to a bumper of a calving season this year with some of our old local ladies with child! Mozambican biologist Diana Rocha recently completed her discretion where she evaluated the impacts of Cetacean based Tourism our local Dolphins of Ponta. Using data supplied by the reserve on vessel traffic, data collected on commercial cetacean based tours and tourists questionnaires she can conclude that there has been a 68% increase in boat traffic out of Ponta do Ouro alone and swim class & avoidance showed strong changes between 2008 & 2017. The increase of tourism, CBT and vessel traffic has had a negative impact on the resident population of dolphins and although the impacts are not sufficient to drive the population away it has altered their day-to-day routine and tolerance to humans. The poster was displayed at the African Marine Mammal Colloquium hosted in Port Elizabeth South Africa. TURTLE TIME Turtle nesting season is between the months of October and March. Turtles are protected and should not be disturbed. The handling of turtles is not permitted. Do not attempt to put turtles back into the water. Please keep away from nesting turtles. Failure to comply will result in a 50 000 Mtn fine. TURTLE FRIENDLY Turn OFF beach front lighting, close curtains. No flash photography around turtles. No torches on the beach after dark. Turtle walks are not permitted in the reserve. Please remove litter & fill in holes. Report incidents of poaching or harassment to the Reserve. VOLUNTEERS & INTERNS We continue to offer internships to students and currently have both Phoebe who is cleaning up and looking at our spinner dolphin data and Inga who is an intern from the University of Twente. She is undertaking a study on the gender difference in attitude towards marine conservation. Are woman more aware of marine conservation and are they more altruistic than men… Please take a couple of minutes to participate in Inga’s research by completing the online questionnaire and check back with us in a couple of months for the results: What our volunteers say… ’After volunteering for 7 weeks I cannot believe how quickly the time has passed. I continue to enjoy swimming with the dolphins and even the occasional whale. I have been so fortunate while here to not only swim with the dolphins but also encounter other marine wildlife such as the other day when sighting a leatherback turtle! It is nice to slowly start recognising the different dolphins and to see them show off their personalities, such as Rocha and her playful son Ripple. I look forward to see what the second half of my time volunteering will bring!’ Phoebe: Marine Biology and oceanography student Plymouth University My first launch was the best one so far. The first time I got into the water, I felt a bit uneasy at first, but that was gone fast, when I saw the dolphins approaching. I have never seen dolphins so close, making eye contact with them gave me a deep feeling, never felt before. But not enough, the whales we’ve seen breached so many times and left us in awe. Being on the boat is always an experience and Angie and Mitch are very experienced and know a lot. During every launch, you see and hear something new. Launching is not the only activity we do do as volunteers. Next to beach cleanups we are analysing micro plastic which makes you even more aware of the sea and the influence we have on it. Also, we’re working on a turtle skeleton, which is quite tricky, though fascinating at the same time. Being a volunteer at Dolphin Encountours Research Center is a lot of FUN and each day brings a new experience. Inga University of Twente ​Part 2 Edu-Tourism Update to follow...