Poke’s Missing Calf September 2024 Update
In July 2023, we introduced you to Poke’s sixth calf (pictured below) who was born earlier that year. At the time, we raised concerns for this calf as after it was sighted in July, Poke was seen alone on future surveys.
We began to ask the question of what could have happened to Poke’s newest calf? Due to its young age, estimated to be approximately 8-9 months old when last sighted, it would have been too young to live independently of its mum. On average, Poke’s calves have stayed with her for 1-1.5 years after birth. It is unusual that her newest one would have separated from her so early on.
At the time, we notified wildlife managers that her young calf had gone missing but have not received any records of a stranding.
Since her sixth calf went missing, Poke was sighted a further seven times without a calf until a survey in July 2024 we saw the unexpected – Poke with a brand new calf!
During the survey, our researchers observed behaviours associated with cow-calf pairs and additionally took multiple images throughout the day of the pair (pictured below). The size of the calf and other images of this pairing lead us to conclude it was born in mid-July 2024 and is certainly Poke’s calf.
This begs the question, what did happen to Poke’s sixth calf?
Well for now this question may remain unanswered. The current theory is that this calf has sadly passed away sometime between July and September 2023 however we won’t know for sure unless this calf had been found stranded.
Whilst it is great to see Poke with a new calf, unlike some of the other common dolphins in our bay like V-Nick and Esther, we have limited knowledge of the success of Pokes calves. So unfortunately, this leaves us with more questions than answers.
For now, we will continue to monitor her and keep you updated in the year ahead about the success of Poke’s seventh calf.
