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NORTH
CAROLINA
MARITIME
MUSEUM
315 Front Street
Beaufort, NC 28516
(252) 728-7317
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Meet Some of Our Dolphins
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Keyhole (#0025) is a summer dolphin that we first photographed in 1989 and have seen every summer since then (never in winter). We have matched Keyhole to photos taken by researchers at University of North Carolina Wilmington. Keyhole was part of a capture and release program directed by scientists south of us near Holden Beach in 2004. A satellite tag was attached to his fin. Over time the tag came off changing the appearance of the dorsal fin. In July of 2005 we photographed him for the first time as FB (Freeze Brand)444. What a different look!
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Fringe (#0454) – mother of “Frankie”, is a regular winter dolphin. In 2003 we first saw Fringe with a baby that had a bulbous mark on the leading edge,or front edge, of the dorsal fin. It is rare for us to be able to identify a young dolphin since they are born with the entire fin smooth. Only over time do the dolphins’ dorsal fins acquire nicks and notches. Now that Fringe’s baby, Frankie(#0454-c), has been weaned and is living away from mom, we can follow his/her movements. Fringe comes to us in the winter from Manteo, NC .
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Cutty- (#0075) is one of our most photographed dolphins. She is an experienced mother now with the eighth calf we have seen her with since we first photographed her in July of 1985. She is one of our summer dolphins, seen in our waters from late April to early October. When Cutty and her calf are not in Beaufort waters we know they go down south to the area around Wilmington, North Carolina. This is affirmed by comparing our dolphin fin photos with those of researchers from the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. It is exciting to think of those folks seeing some of the same dolphins we do!
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 | Onion (#0026) is a winter dolphin that
we first photographed in 1990 and have seen every winter (never in summer) since then. Onion is always seen with "Butterfly" (#271) and we have matched them both to photos taken by researchers of the Nags Head Dolphin Watch where the pair are seen together every summer near Manteo. |
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 | Dolphin #0056 is a male who was
captured, tagged, and released in the Indian River Lagoon in Florida by
Hubbs Sea World Research Institute in 1979 as part of a bottlenose dolphin population study. At the time of capture he was estimated to be 12 years old. He often approaches boats begging and has become our "Don't Feed the Dolphins" poster child. We've seen him near Beaufort on 7 days between 1997 and 1999. He's been all the way to Long Island with the most recent reported sightings of him from North Wildwood New Jersey in June '07. |
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 | Butterfly #0271 and Onion seem to
breathe each other's breath. They are always seen swimming, if not
side-by-side, in very close proximity. In Sarasota Bay, Florida and Shark
Bay, Australia, there are known males who are very long-term associates. It is possible Onion and Butterfly are such a pair of males, but we don't know for sure. They are here in the winter months only. Summertime finds them in the waters near Manteo, NC, where they hang together also.Pretty cool, eh?? |
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 | Courage #0105 is another summer dolphin and a known mom. She, too, is a southern traveler frequently seen in Wilmington. We have seen her with three calves in the years since 1985. As you can see, her most prominent feature is her leading edge cut. |
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 | Ciento #0100 is the Spanish word for 100. Ciento is an unusual dolphin in that his/her sightings occur not just in the summer months, but also
in the winter months, and in between. Ciento's greatest number of sightings are in the months October - April, with 5 sightings spread
out in May, June, July, and August.
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