Temptation takes you swiming with the dolphins in south australia

Dolphin Reports

DOLPHIN REPORTS ARCHIVE from January to May 2005.

Dolphin Report to end of May 2005

dolphins swimming What a great month! Flat water, great visibility and dolphins everywhere.

Within 10 minutes of all trips during May we had swimmers in the water for their first swim. On two occasions the swim time total was over 2½ hours.

There were a lot of penguins around during May feasting on schools of blue bait.

On Sunday 22nd May, Mohawk came back into the marina with a new baby (about 4 weeks old) – we had not seen her for over two months. She bought the baby over to Temptation and swam with the boat for 10 minutes as it cruised the coast.

The gestation period for dolphins is around 12 months and dolphins usually give birth every 3 years, however, Mohawk was seen by herself with a new born in the marina last year in March but we assume this baby died 1 week later (as we saw Mohawk without the baby).

QUESTION: is it possible for a dolphin to give birth again within 13 months – if you know the answer, please email me on info@dolphinboat.com.au.

Please note the last swim for the 04/05 season was Thursday 26th May, 2005 our first cruise for next season is on Sunday 14th August 05.

Dolphin Report to end of April 2005

April was a hit or miss month - there were lots of dolphins one day and scattered dolphins the next.

Most sightings were close to Glenelg but near the river outlets, so visibility was poor for swimmers.

There has been no large pods of dolphins down South in the clean water, with sightings of only one or two small pods.

The weather for April was perfect with flat seas most mornings.

Dolphin interaction time was also down for April, with many of the encounters being dolphins playing at the bow then passing under the swimmers as they leave.

swim with the dolphins There are three regular seals at Glenelg at the moment, with one coming into the Holdfast Shores Marina on dusk to feed.

On Monday April 25th, we hosted a film crew from RAI TV (a prime time television show in Italy). The water conditions were perfect but a lot of cloud cover, this didn’t stop the dolphins from putting on an amazing performance in the middle of the two lines. This swim went for 34 minutes with a pod of 18 dolphins. All up on this day we swam with 5 different pods.

Please note the last swim for this season is Thursday 26th May, 2005 we then start the next season mid August.

Dolphin Report
to end of March 2005

The weather and visibility for March was excellent, but the dolphin swims started off badly in early March. Dolphin pods with new borns opted not to come over to Temptation, but this slowly changed late March. To date we have spotted 5 new borns to the local pods.

Seal numbers around Glenelg are up with sightings on most days.

Dolphin Report
to end of February 2005

February is the best time to see new borns and this year was no different with three so far and two of them to our local dolphins.

The visibility for February has been excellent but the swims not so good as many pods with new borns hold back from the boat. The exception is a well known dolphin named “Rah” who has now given birth and has been bringing the new born to the bow of Temptation, but not yet to the swimmers.

The dolphins are now close to the marina and most February swims were in the first 15 minutes of the cruise.

For those who don’t have their sea legs and wish to see dolphins, I suggest going down to Holdfast Shores Marina around 7:00 am, as there are two dolphins that have been feeding in the marina each morning.

Swimming with the Dolphins

Dolphin Report to end of January 2005

Dolphin numbers have dropped off this month and dolphin pods are smaller but most dolphins that are still here are our local dolphins who know our boat well, so swims have been good but swim time overall is down to only 24 minutes average. dolphin

Memorable cruise: On the 25th January we left the marina and got a good swim with a pod of 20 dolphins only 10 minutes into the trip. This swim lasted for 17 minutes then we headed South along the coast spotting only a few dolphins until we picked up a good size pod in the squid grounds. This swim wasn’t that good so we headed out into the deeper waters and picked up some common dolphins that swam around the boat and swimmers for 23 minutes until we ran out of time.

mother dolphin holding new born dolphin above the water with her nose As we headed back with the common dolphins escorting us home, we got a call from Jade who was doing a swim on her boat “Conquest” – she was just out from Glenelg watching a dolphin on its own floating on the surface. Jade and her passengers watched in amazement as a new born appeared before their eyes. We got there approx. 10 minutes later and watched as its mother kept holding the new born above the water with her nose.
see photo – Note: this is not as clear as the other photos as we kept a distance so not to disturb them.

On another note: all trials with the shark pod indicate that there is no irritation to the dolphins and they will play only inches from the electrodes.