The Breeze Magazine of the Lowcountry, JULY 2018

ENVIRONMENT
TIPS ON NAVIGATING
DOLPHIN BEHAVIOR
Amber Kuehn, Marine Biologist
Owner of Spartina Marine Education Charters
I thought every 12 year old had the keys to a motor boat,
and threw a cast net to catch a mullet to feed their pet
dolphin named Dolly. There are things that you observe
as an adult that you had seen as a child, but never
thought anything of it…
All of the cetaceans residing in Beaufort County are
Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops, truncatus)
When dolphins approach boats for food
It was always exciting to feed Dolly the fish, which she
would only swallow head first. Dolphin swallow their
food whole, so it had to be just the right size and it went
down smooth head first, as fish are streamlined in the
forward direction. However, IT IS A FEDERAL OFFENSE
TO FEED MARINE MAMMALS AFTER 1992. The federal
government amended the Marine Mammal Protection
Act of 1972 to say that no food of any sort shall be fed to
any marine mammal in the United States. This includes
polar bears, sea otters, manatees, sea lions, seals,
whales, dolphins, etc.
Due to the fact that dolphins do not taste their food, they
will eat anything that will fill their bellies. They are lazy,
and would prefer to open their mouths to beg from boats
rather than catching their own food. There is obviously
less nutrition in a Twinkie than a fish, but therein lies a
larger issue, no fresh water in a Twinkie (A Twinkie is an
American snack cake, marketed as a “Golden Sponge
Cake with Creamy Filling”). A dolphin is a mammal and
cannot drink salt water. They stay hydrated by eating
fish. A fish can drink salt water all day long and excrete
the salt in its urine and through its gills; a fish is full of
fresh water. The raw fish at the sushi bar is not salty until
you add the soy sauce. At Hudson’s Seafood, you don’t
request your fish to be prepared without any salt, butter,
seasonings…Just fish plus heat will be very bland. Also,
it is best that dolphins do not hover around boats with
spinning blades.
When dolphins blow several times at once
They are so graceful and amazing to watch as they glide
through the May River. When they break the surface
of the water to breathe, they exhale (the blow that
you hear). Their name should be the Atlantic Bottle
Mouthed Dolphin, because their
mouth is the rostrum or projection
on the front of their face, and the
nose is actually a blowhole on
the top of their head! When your
nose is a slight dent on the top of
your head with two muscles called
monkey lips that open and close it
to breathe, what is still in the dent
when the dolphin comes up for
air? Water! So will it inhale first?
Or exhale first. If you answered
exhale first, you are correct. The
exhale pushes that water out
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