Tales from the Lagoon ~ Episode- reunited with uncle larry….again!
Tales from the Lagoon~ Episode- Reunited with Uncle Larry….Again!
Today a maternity pod (consists of a couple moms, their calves and usually a male dolphin) came into the lagoon. I was super excited to see the dolphin called Uncle Larry!
Uncle Larry was named by the group of awesome people at HUBBS who monitor and care for the dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon.
I don’t think I’ve seen him since December 2021. Every time I have seen him, he has been with a maternity pod. I know it’s him because he has the number 968 on his dorsal fin.
I met him June of 2018 along with 2 other dolphins who also had numbers on their dorsal fins, 918, 910. I was curious because this was a first time I have ever seen numbers on dolphins.
I called my friend in the dolphin world who told me the numbers are probably from research and that she would make a few calls to ask around.
She was able to get in touch with the original researcher who told her the dolphins were part of a health assessment in 2004, they were all males and healthy in 2004. He said, in 2004, 968 was approximately 25 years old, 910 and 918 were around 23-24 years old. She said the researcher was so happy to hear how the dolphins were doing. Using the approximate ages from 2004, that means Uncle Larry is around 43 years old now!
918 is who I call Happy Buddha and the first dolphin who spent a lot of time with me. He is the first one to interact with the camera and show me we could communicate.
910 is called Maverick. When I first met him he was with Happy Buddha but I also noticed him spending time alone. He is a great athlete and gentle.
Today, he and the other adults were quite active chasing fish and leaping out of the water. His number looks a bit worn after all thee years but he seemed to be quite active! A new baby was in the mix and doing a great job hanging with the adults.
Stay tuned for more tales!
The number on his dorsal fin is a bit faded but still there 968
An adult ( I think the mom) with the baby
Fish Fly
When I first met Uncle Larry
Uncle Larry December last year