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Solitary dolphin may have been injured by boat propellor
Animal welfare organisations that have been monitoring Dave the solitary female bottlenose dolphin living on the Kent coast have reported that she has sustained injuries which appear to have been caused by being struck by a boat propeller. Although the wound is not considered to be life-threatening and consists of a series of parallel cuts on her dorsal fin, such injuries have been known to cause infections in dolphins which have proven fatal.
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A group spokesman said: “For many months now we have been warning that Dave was becoming increasingly vulnerable to being struck by boats as she has become increasingly tame and surrounded by human admirers. This is one of the reasons why we have been asking people to stay out of the water and not approach her either by boat or by swimming. The situation is increasingly dangerous for Dave and for people in the water with her. This wound is relatively small but many friendly dolphins are killed by propeller strikes and what this latest development reinforces is the need for people to watch her only from the shore.”
There is a growing awareness of the problems posed by one unusual type of dolphin known as the 'solitary sociable'. The young female bottlenose dolphin in Kent known as 'Dave' is one of these. Despite advice from parties in the working group to protect the dolphin us and others to not 'play with her' she has gradually become habituated to human contact. This lack of natural fear now puts her and her admirers at great and real risk.
Solitary dolphins in similar circumstances have become increasingly dominant in their play with people in the water and have even prevented swimmers from leaving the water, which is at least very frightening and at worst potentially life threatening. Dave has also learnt to tow people through the water but she will not be able to judge safety and could leave swimmers stranded out of their depth. Additionally a dolphin which feels threatened is well able to defend itself. Interactions between bottlenose dolphins can be very robust and they can certainly butt with great force and bite.
A 'tamed' dolphin is also at great risk of people treating her cruelly or being struck by boats. The history of solitary dolphins in general is a really sad one and two of these animals have been killed in the UK recently as a result of their increasing confidence around people and boats. This is why the experts in the UK have been calling for people not to swim with Dave. Dolphins are also highly protected animals and their 'reckless disturbance' is against the law.
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