Every 6 minutes a power boat passes by dolphins in Sarasota Bay, Florida. This repeated disturbance can interrupt dolphin behavior and boat collisions have the potential to cause injury or death. Pumpkin and her family are some of the dolphins that have been affected by boats in this area. In 1996, Pumpkin was hit by a boat propeller while swimming with her year-old calf named Pi. The propeller cut deeply into her dorsal fin and she became separated from young Pi for several days. A few years later, Pi and his buddy Noah were also hit by boats, leaving minor injuries on Pi’s dorsal fin and deep cuts along Noah’s side. Fortunately, they survived the accident but Seed, Pi’s younger sister, was not as lucky, and was killed when a boat hit her at the age of 3. Sadly, stories like these are not uncommon, with 1 in 20 dolphins in Sarasota Bay having boat collision scars like those seen on Pi, Pumpkin and Noah.
You can keep wild dolphins like Pumpkin and her family safe from boat strikes by following these simple steps:
1) Stay at least 50 yards away from dolphins.
2) Carefully scan the waters ahead of your boat to watch for, and steer away from, marine life.
3) Respect slow speed and no access zones.
4) Choose ‘Dolphin Smart’ programs when viewing wild dolphins.
5) Share the information you learned in this video with your friends and family.
To learn more, visit www.sarasotadolphin.org
21 окт 2024
