First baby dolphin surfaces

Marine Biologist and manager at Bunbury's iconic Dolphin Discovery Centre is excited to introduce the first dolphin baby for 2014 born in Koombana Bay.

After a long and agonising wait, I can finally announce that the first dolphin baby for 2014 has been born in Koombana Bay.

Weighing approximately 30kg and no bigger than the length of your arm, this little guy was observed for the first time by our swim tour crew early last Wednesday morning and has been regularly sighted with its mum Cracker everyday since.

Surrounded by a big group of females for protection, Cracker and her new baby look fit and healthy and have spent most of their recovery time close to The Cut area and within the Leschenault Estuary channel.

The dolphins have chosen this area as the ideal location to introduce their babies to the world because of its protection from ocean swells and winds, the abundance of food in the area thanks to the Leschenault Estuary, and because of a lack of predators such as sharks.

This area does experience a lot of boating traffic that can create a lot of potential stress, so we will keep a good eye on them both over the next few months to monitor their condition, particularly as we head toward the madness of the Easter holiday period.

If you do spend some time on or near the water, keep your eyes peeled for any signs of Cracker and her new bub, or any other newborn calves. .

We are expecting around 10-15 babies to be born here in Koombana Bay between now and April so chances are you will come across one or two most days.

They are easy to spot among the dolphin groups as they are obviously very small, often pale in colour and wrinkled with vertical creases running along their body.

They are also awkward swimmers, often jumping right out of the water in a desperate attempt to breathe.

Surprisingly, it can take them many weeks to learn how to swim and breath properly, making their mum’s life stressful and exhausting.

For this reason, a number of female dolphins will join forces to assist the new mums and form maternal groups.

Despite all of this care more than 40 per cent of the new calves will still die before they reach their first birthday.

This is mostly the result of poor parenting, malnutrition, murder by other dolphins, or attack from predators such as tiger and bull sharks.