Summer Appeal
The joy of a tiny dolphin’s leap is a beautiful reminder of why we do what we do, and why your “summer love” is so important.
Our camera was working overtime to record new common dolphin calves born since July. It was our first Port Phillip survey after months of lockdown.
The very young calf in these photos had faint stripes called fetal folds. These are remnant wrinkles in their skin from being curled up before birth. They usually fade after several months, telling us the little calf is only weeks old – the most vulnerable time in its young life.
The special bond between mothers and calves means they stay very close in the first weeks. If you look closely (above), you can see a dolphin underwater – it’s probably the mother.
Our challenge is to find out who she is.
After trolling through hundreds of photos from our survey, we found a clue! An image of the same little calf with an adult (above).
Tiny nicks on the adult’s dorsal fin are like a “fin print”. They identify ‘Poke’ as the likely mother. And if so, this is a very lucky little dolphin, as Poke is a champion mother with three other calves successfully reared since 2009.
Understanding the success of dolphin mothers is crucial for conservation. Your support makes this vital work possible.
As you consider supporting our summer appeal, we thought you might be open to making a gift of an Adopt-A-Dolphin membership?
The gift of a membership to a loved one, colleague, or teacher, not only shows how much you care about them, it also shows how much you care for the marine environment and its inhabitants. (It’s also a perfect gift to yourself).
Our Adopt-A-Dolphin community have been the heart of our organisation for three decades. They are part of our loyal family who trusts DRI to make a difference. This is what they say:
“We Adopt-A-Dolphin because we trust the team and believe in their work to protect marine life and the bays.”
“DRI gives dolphins a voice – our family a voice – and a positive way to support marine life and conservation”.
“It has and continues to be, such a rewarding journey”.
Adopt-A-Dolphin membership directly supports Research for conservation, Education to develop young leaders and scientists, and Leadership to reduce coastal pollution and influence decision-makers. These work together to protect our living marine treasures, especially our dolphins, whales and bays.
After listening to our supporters, we have personalised the program to include four members of the very special community of common dolphins resident in Port Phillip. Everywhere else in the world, common dolphins live in the open ocean. They are: Poke – mother of 4, V-Nick – mother of 3, Tall Fin – resident male, and DD – accident-prone survivor.
Adopt-A-Dolphin membership costs just $98 a year (or monthly gifts of $10 or more).
While not everyone is in a position to donate right now, we equally value your help to share our work with your family and friends. The more people who join our community, the more impact we can make.
Your support means everything to us at DRI and is critical to the protection of dolphins, whales and bays.
There is no room for complacency. As despite our growing vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and population growth, community concern for the environment has declined. Consequently, our work and your support are more crucial than ever.
On behalf of everyone at the Dolphin Research Institute, thank you for your support, and we wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday season.
