A friendly dolphin, more commonly known as dolphin 56, has once again been sighted off Ocean City, New Jersey. This animal was part of a research project back in 1979 when Hubs-SeaWorld Research Institute in Orlando, captured six dolphins for the project. Each dolphin, one female and five males was given a branded number so their movements could be could be tracked and recent images taken of a dolphin that interacted with boaters at Ocean City clearly showed the number “56” branded on its dorsal fin.

Dolphin 56 has been sighted from Florida to New England over the last 30 years or so. Since his initial capture, this particular dolphin stayed close to the area in which he was first captured and was sighted dozens of times over the years in the Indian River Lagoon in Florida. At first, he was not significantly different than the other dolphins captured and branded for the study, but after release it soon became apparent he had adopted more of a solitary lifestyle. It’s not clear what affect the capture had on dolphin 56 but before long he began a pattern of following boats and begging for fish, he was also recaptured two times during the early 1980s so researchers could update his measurements.

At the time he was first captured in 1979, he was estimated to already be about 12 years old. In the spring of 1982, the contract for the study expired but dolphin 56 was still regularly sighted. In early 1997, he was sighted in the area of Jacksonville, some 300 miles from where he was first captured, months later, he was spotted in the area of Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. Since then he has interacted with boaters, kayakers and surfers from Florida to New York and beyond, sighted three times in the waters off New York from 1998 to 2001; 50 times off the coast of New Jersey and Delaware between 1998 and 2008; 69 times off the coast of North Carolina between 1997 and 1999 with two more sightings in 2001 and 2004; eight sightings off the coast of Maryland and Virginia between 1997 and 2001; 11 off South Carolina from 1997 to 1999; twice off the Georgia coast from 1997 to 1998; and 40 times off Florida’s coast from 1979 until 1996.

This dolphin must now be over 40 years of age and apart from what appears to have been an injury to his jaw at one point, appears healthy.