The dolphin first appeared near Corpus Christi, Texas in March 2020, and with lockdown easing, more and more of the public are attempting to swim and touch the dolphin, sharing their experiences via social media which only encourages others to also interact with the animal. These actions could be dangerous, for both the wild dolphin and the swimmers and Texas wildlife officials are warning residents/visitors not to interact with the social, solitary dolphin – if anyone does, they will face a fine of up to $250.
Marine Connection has been monitoring the phenomenon of solitary cetaceans for many years and whilst it is understandable that people want to get closer to these marine mammals when they appear closer to shore, without question, it threatens their welfare when the public do not retain respect for the dolphins’ wild nature. People are unaware of the consequences that swimming with solitary wild dolphins may have, over the past 18 months, at least two individual male solitary, sociable bottlenose dolphins have lost their lives due to becoming habituated over a period of time, losing their fear around vessels and humans.
Learn more about social/solitary dolphins and whales and what we do to help protect these individual marine mammals wherever they appear around the world. Habituation stages of a sociable cetacean are explained in Marine Connection’s report ‘Lone Rangers’, which can also be accessed within the link above.
