Dolphin experts heading to CI
(CNS): Two marine mammal experts from NOAA and a specialist vet from Seaworld will be heading to the Cayman Islands from the US next week for a short visit to assist the Department of Environment (DoE) with the problem of Cayman’s rogue lone dolphin. As a result, the team is asking everyone in Cayman to call in any sightings over the coming days of the young male that has been attracting considerable attention over the last few months. As the experts are here for such a short time and will want to monitor and survey the dolphin's health and behaviour closely, the DoE needs to ensure they keep track of ‘Stinky’, as he has since been named, ahead of the important visit.
The three experts are offering their time free of charge; rooms for their stay have been donated by the Grand Caymanian and flights provided by the DoT.
The experts' goal will be to ensure that the young male dolphin is not sufferingany health problems and to check if his behaviour is in line with that of other lone young males. They will be observing his behaviour as he interacts with people and trying to gain some insight. Once the assessments are made, the DoE hopes that the visitng experts, along with other marine biology specialists the department has been talking to, will help come up with a long-term solution to the problem the rogue dolphin poses.
“We understand that at present we are taking the right course of action by asking people to stay away from the dolphin and get out of the water if they are approached by him,” Gina Ebanks-Petrie stated on Friday morning as the DoE announced the forthcoming arrival of the US experts. “We are seeking a long-term solution but we need to know more about the dolphin in the first instance.”
She said the DoE was not expecting that there would be a quick fix to the problem, so it was important to keep up the warnings to swimmers and divers to stay away from the dolphin so they do not reinforce its sometimes aggressive behaviour as it attempts to make sexual advances to almost anything that moves in the ocean.
Janice Blumenthal, a research officer with the DoE asked everyone on the water this weekend to be extra vigilant and let the DoE know where the dolphin is. She also asked for any pictures or footage that has been taken of him to be sent to the DoE.
“We are not advocating that people film him but if they already have the pictures or video they would be very useful for our US visitors," she said. Older footage of previous dolphin sightings would also be welcome, Blumenthal added, as she said the DoE has still not been able to confirm if ‘Stinky’, who was first sighted in June, is the same lone male dolphin that has been reported in the North Sound on and off for several years.
The DoE team said anyone that has video and pictures of dolphins in local waters should email them to doe@gov.ky and any sightings of the dolphin over the weekend can be called in on 949-8469
Category: Science and Nature
"Sexual advances to almost anything that moves" – ideal where is it?
Am I the only one that thinks 'Stinky' is the stupidest name ever. How can an animal swimming under water smell of anything? I vote to change the nickname to 'Randy' or I've also heard "Chester the Molester' which certainly fits.
Poor thing. He's only doing what is natural for him. We aren't suposed to be there. The sea is his world. I think "Randy" is a nice name. He's not a molester.
So in typical government planning fashion, was there any previous thought or consideration given to this eventuality when the two Dolphin parks were in the planning stages?
Government is too reactionary and there is little or no coordination. What do you expect I suppose when the Ministry's are full of young people who have no real world proper training or shadowing and treat the experienced people in the departments like c@@p.
Its all about power in their minds.
In government as a whole the tail is wagging the dog.
Please just ignore the horrors of dolphins being abused in captivity because they are making money for people who know people.
Are they bringing him a girlfriend? Stinky needs a girlfriend not a lot of studying. Problem solved and I'm not an expert.
By the looks of that erection he is sporting, this Dolphin is looking for love….in all the wrong places.
Oh Lawdy, there's dolphins and caymans in North Sound! Why does this place get so agitated over seeing big creatures living in places where they have come and gone for millions of years. So you killed most of them before but they keep coming back. Just leave them alone.
Could be that this dolphin is a super-intelligent mutation, and realizes there is much more to life than swimming in the ocean. Perhaps trying desperately to join the human environment
A "super intelligent mutation" would require just the opposite.
awwwww this pour little animal lets hope they save him/her. i love dolphins.
This dolphin is right where it belongs; free to swim wherever it wishes.
If only dolphins could carry guns, eh? Then they would be truly free.
I hope they save the 'pour' thing too…
At this point, nobody knows when this dolphin got the scars on his back so older pictures may not tell the story if he is the same one.
It may be a great idea to tag one of the captive female dolpins and place her with this male. Long term captive marine mammals such as dolphins and orca's alike, will have forgotten how to feed themselves whereas this male apparently has no problem at all doing so and appears to like his current environment. Chances are the femalewill adapt to wild feeding again and these two can start a family of their own. This concept has been on the table for some time as a means to re-introduce long term captive marine mammals when they would reach retirement age, for lack of a better explanation and have them enjoy their natural environment once more. This was instigated by organizations such as WSPA, HSI, PETA and others. Others places in the world already have natural wild dolphin "parks" similar to us having stingray city. This could be the beginning of a whole new concept and possibly create a natural dolphin city to call our own if you will.
One can only hope that this could be one of the best things either one of the local dolphin parks could do to prove they really do care about these animals rather then me, me and myself and they only thing that matters is the amount of money they can sqeeze out of these truly magnificent mammals by holding them prisonors.
In the meantime, my dream goes on that all these creatures around the world may maintain or know freedom again in the near future.