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.