29th July 2013 - Dolphin seen with wounds on its right side and belly from an attempted shark attack.  Luckily it seems the dolphin was able to escape before the shark could bite down and because of this dolphin should be able to recover from this attack. The dolphin  (named Scarry)  is the one who was very badly sunburnt ( see 25th December 2012 stranding ) and already had wide white sunburn scars on its right side.

 

19th August 2013 - Dolphin Scarry with shark wounds resighted, wounds are healing fast

 

During the winter months there have been large numbers of dolphins in peel/harvey system sometimes finding 50-60 and often feeding. This year the mothers with young calves and also male pods were often seen in Harvey Estuary

 

29th August 2013 - Mandurah cruises report a dolphin with significant wounds from a shark attack on its left side and belly. We hope it will be able to recover! Although not seen again in the inlet many dolphins in the ocean bear shark scars so we hope it did survive.

 

3 October 2013 - Shark injury dolphin ( Scarry) of 29th July 2013 seen alive and well :). Mowglis calf that had fishing line on its mouth and tail also seen doing well with no trailing line.

 

20 November 2013 - a (unconfirmed member of public) report of a 3-4m shark approx 1140am near old mandurah  bridge. A small shark had been seen a month earlier off silversands/cometbay. Sharks are sometimes sighted outside the cut.

 

Possible deaths 2013 - I believe the severely sunburnt mother of 11 Feb may have died. Also the dolphin with shark wounds of 29th August may have died ( both unconfirmed). Neither has been sighted again to my knowledge inland however they may be offshore.

 

21 December 2013 - Great news. Mandurah cruises are reporting seeing a brand new calf in our waters only a few days old.

""Goooooood Morning Mandurah!!! In great news one of our popular resident dolphins now has a very young calf swimming alongside her. This newborn is only a few days old with its fetal fold stripes still predominant and dorsal fin still firming up.""

Late december is normally when we see the first of our calves appear :)

 

14 March 2014 - possibly two young calves in our waters. one mum Scar has a small white scar right side of dorsal.

 

20 March 2014 - Definately 2 quite possibly 3 new calves so far. one mum has thin white sunburn scar that looks like two dots joined together on her right side ( Scar)

 

22 March 2014 - Sadly the adult female dolphin named Oyster was found dead today in Serpentine River past the Stakehill bridge. She had lost many of her front teeth and was in thin/poor condition. RIP. Many thanks to the family who found and reported her.

Oyster was a really well known and much loved dolphin who has given birth to many of our dolphins over the years. Even a few months before dying she had given birth to a newborn and had a previous calf before that. She was orginally known as sunshine and was a very friendly dolphin. Years ago she stranded in low tide and eventually many hours later managed to free herself when the tide eventually rose. She suffered severe burns to her side, which healed but left recognisable white marks on her left side. As an example of her many births in the past on the 16th April 1997 we saw her with a new calf Sunbeam. In autumn 2001 she gave birth to Surprise and then she had a new calf born autumn 2004. She continued to reproduce as years past, and clearly her genes are significantly carried through in many of our dolphin pods. 

 

24 March 2014- A smallish dolphin River was seen today in the peel inlet with sunburn wounds ( from stranding ) underneath its dorsal left side only.  Luckily they arent extensive and a full recovery is expected.

 

28 March 2014 - New calf seen in inlet today, mother has scratch marks all the way down her dorsal right side and some dark pigmenting marks on her left body.

 

28 March 2014- New calf seen today in the Harvey Estuary. Mother ( Hayley) has very notched dorsal with approx 4 notches out of it.

 

approx 25 dolphins in harvey estuary today including many of last years calves born in there.

 

*There is now approx 5 2014 calves in our waters*

 

3 April 2014 - sadly a young male calf 1.4m in length only few months old was found dead yesterday within approx 500m of where the dead adult was found on 22 March 2014. This was Oysters calf.

 

4 April 2014 - The female dolphin Topnotch is a mum again, she has a new calf named Autumn. Her last calf Beaky was a male born april 2011 and he is old enough to leave her side and has often been seen without her. Despite his misshapen beak he is doing great.

 

8 April 2014 - 2 calves seen in the Dawesville cut just hanging in the tide while their mums fished.

                      Now predicted there are 7 calves including these ocean going ones in our waters

                      only one calf in harvey estuary this year seen compared to many last year.

 

15 May 2014 - Mowglis 2013 born calf is confirmed female. This little girl was seen jumping high into the air over and over again in harvey estuary today, trying to dislodge what was likely a parasite off her body.

 

3 June 2014 - saw approx 20 dolphins in harvey estuary and another 30 in peel inlet today ( including 4  (2014) calves together in the inlet)

 

Mid june 2014- possible new calf seen in south yunderup canals. One 2014 babies has some weed trailing from its mouth.

                      Female dolphin freezebranded 21 is being pursued by the males 01, 14 etc and is likely to be pregnant  again. Two sealions  were sighted in our inland waters on 13.6.2014 one near mandurah's new bridge and one past the cut near the entrance to harvey estuary. We also have seals who come in occassionally and turtles!

 

25 September 2014 - A dolphin is seen with large wound across its head, in the Serpentine River.  Many thanks to craig for the report. Anyone who sees it plse let us know and please photograph if possible. Unfortunately 5 days of searchnig in the inlet failed to find it.

 

7 October 2014 - 01, 14 and frankenstein now always seen together as male allience.

 

21 Oct 2014 - 21 was seen today with a brand new calf.

She was being closely followed by male allience of of 14, frankenstein, blake.  

21 had a calf in 2010 (and we believed in Jan 2013 as well) so we are not sure if the 2013 calf survived.
October is quite early for a calf to be born here and we hope the calf will prosper.

 

22 Oct 2014- A very decomposed dead baby dolphin was found on silver sands beach today. Thanks to the member of public who reported it. 

 

4 Nov 2014 - 21's new calf was seen again today healthy with mum :)

 

25 Nov 2014 - Two dolphins, a mother ( Hayley) and a young male calf were rescued today from the very furthest point of Harvey Estuary at entrance to Harvey river. Completely stranded high and dry in an extremely remote area, on the banks in very hot mid 30's temps they were luckily spotted by a passing helicopter/plane who reported them! Thanks go out to the pilots! Many thanks to professional fishermen the Watts family and their friends, Dept of parks and wildlife officers and dolphin volunteers who all assisted with the rescue. Our records show the male calf is approx 9 months old, born in march 2014 (see 28 march above). Mother has 4 noticeable notches out of her dorsal.

 

27 Nov 2014 - Sadly the little male calf from above stranding was sighted floating upside down dead in the harvey estuary today RIP. Attempts to recover the body for necropsy were underway but had to be abandoned when a bad lightening storm rolled in. The mother Hayley was seen alive, sighted in the harvey with many other dolphins, she has large sunburn wounds both sides of her dorsal.  Note - Mum Hayley alive resighted again 2 December 2014 harvey estuary.

 

27 December 2014 - The sunburned mother seen swimming well with three other dolphins near stony point Harvey Estuary. She has severe burns which are slowly healing especially on her right side.

 

We have also seen beaky lately whos doing great

 

7 Jan 2015 - Dolphin seen in black lake which is past Lake Goegrup (map)

 

15 Jan 2015 - Dead subadult male dolphin approx 2.1m length washed up decomposed end of wanjeep rd nairns

no obvious cause of death

 

21 Jan 2015 - Mandurah cruises have seen a new calf in our waters this week!

27 Jan 2015- The new calf and proud mum spent the day within the town waters today. Mum is named Lowblow, she has a very low nick out of her dorsal. 29 Jan 2015 lowblow and her new calf are spending time with another mother Topnotch ( beakys mum) and her recent 2014 calf. Lowblow's calf has been named Benji by Mandurah Cruises.

 

3 Feb 2015- 2nd new calf of 2015 sighted today! very small with bumpy edge to dorsal. Her mum is quite easy to recognise as she has streak type lines running downwards through her dorsal left side. 

 

4 Feb 2015- A dolphin was seen stranded in low tide in the Harvey Estuary today just south of mills road boatramp. Thanks to the member of public who called it in, the murray shire ranger and shire staff, Dept Parks and Wildlife staff and dolphin rescue volunteers who all assisted and attended. After being moved from the shallows by the ranger, and with the tide rising, the dolphin was able to swim out to safer higher waters

 

5 Feb 2015 - Large dead dolphin seen floating in the ocean in the surfbreak at the beach end of tim thicketts rd dawesville. May wash up north.

 

8 Feb 2015- Badly Sunburnt mum ( Hayley) of 25 Nov 2014 seen today healing well now, she should be fine :)

                  Mowglis 2013 calf seems to have scars from fishing line 

                  21 and her 3 month calf, and the new calf of 3 Feb 2015, seen together today

 

11 Feb 2015 - Professional fisherman Damian Bell reported in what is likely to be a mother mourning her dead baby approx 300m north of island point harvey estuary west side today. 

 

18 Feb 2015 - Possible new newborn calf seen today in peel inlet. Mum is keeping the tiny calf well away from boats. May be the 3rd born so far this year. We also saw Nicky without her 2012 calf today, it may be old enough to leave her side. We also saw 22 alone on 9th March and Bendy Wendy so nikki 22 and bendy wendy may have another calf in the future.

​

20/2/2015 - F neonate found dead rocks off Mandurah marina ( from necropsy records)

 

14 March 2015 - 2 dolphins seen swimming past stakehill bridge ( map).

                   

19 March 2015- 2 dolphins seen in lower reach of Black Lake (map).     

                       In town waters the mums Topnotch and Lowblow are frequently seen together with their calves. Interestingly they were the most seen pairing in town waters when they had their previous calves too ( during the dolphin study of 2012).

21's little calf of 5 months still has a cute swimming style of coming far out of the water on each breathe interesting to see if this continues. 

 

21 March 2015 -Nicky  has a brand new calf! She has had many calves over the years :) Her new calf has been named Surprise. Three newborn calves of 2015 were seen together in a pod on 24 March.

 

24 March 2015 - The 2 large male dolphins in lower black lake had been swimming in a ever smaller area each day as tides were dropping, water very warm, and by this morning they almost stranded and had begun spending all day listlessly in the same spot without purpose, completely unable to exit. A decision was made to move them out of the lake back into the safety of the serpentine river. Many thanks to a large number of Parks and Wildlife staff from both mandurah and perth, many volunteers including kayakers, dolphin volunteer rescuers, and black lake residents and all who helped move the dolphins. The dolphins were nicknamed squeaky and trouble. Trouble ( actually named Rice in recent dolphin research) had old sunburn scars from a previous stranding years ago. Its not easy to move such large animals and well done to everyone concerned. Trouble and Squeaky have been seen since back in the safety of the peel inlet.

 

28 March 2015 4 small calves seen together today :) A 4th newborn now in our waters! 

 

11 April 2015 - Neonate (very young) baby dolphin sadly passed away at preston beach. Many thanks to all those who did everything they could. Mum was nowhere to be seen unfortunately.

 

20 April 2015 - Another newborn! The dolphin freezebranded 22 has a brand new baby! 22 is one of many females who are regularly giving birth every three years or so. Her new calf has been named Jac by mandurah cruises.

There are now 6 newborns at least in our waters.

The other recent mother has a nick out of her dorsal fin bit more than half way down. 

Mums Nicky lowblow and 22 are spending a lot of time together in town waters as they did in 2012 with previous calves

 

6th May 2015 - Topnotchs 2014 calf Autumn is a male. Dolphin who had a wound to front of left pec fin (now healed) is a male ( this is Autumn). Many dolphins have been enjoying the salmon run off the Dawesville cut these past weeks.

 

6th May 2015- 2 crayfishermen have reported in they saw a dolphin calf in the marina today with hooks in its left side in front of its left pec fin and trailing several metres of fishing line. Cruises boats are going to keep an eye out. 

 

A dead newborn calf washed up on the marina rocks in April. Sadly this newborn looked very thin.

 

25th May 2015 - Two new tiny newborns seen today in the inlet! Very small they would be less than a week old. One mother ( Frill) has a frilled dorsal fin all the way down ( her last calf was born in january 2012) and the other has a notch out of the lower part of its dorsal.

This has been a great year for births with at least 8 new calves now in our waters! Sadly we have also heard of two newborn deaths this year ( one at the end of harvey estuary, one marina rocks above) as well though high mortality in newborns is common in dolphins. 

                       

30th May 2015- Squarecut is a mum again! her last calf a female was born in 2012. She has a large squareish shaped notch out of her dorsal top 1/3.  Many of the females are giving birth every three years which is great to see. This has been a bumper year for calves and its hard to keep up :). She was in town today 30th may. There may be as many as 9 newborns this year! 

 

30th May 2015- We saw Beaky ( or chatty as mandurah cruises call him?) again today he looks very healthy despite his jaw deformity he is doing great. He would be 4 years old now.

 

3 July 2015- A dolphin ( now called Sharkbite) with old scarring, lumps, and puscular white scars? seen at dawesville cut. The cut is a great place to sight dolphins either at the peel inlet end where they often are or especially on ocean side where the dolphins utilise the small canal that is located south/ocean side of the cut bridge to herd the fish into and then get an easy meal once the fish are trapped in this small L shaped canal with nowhere to go. Very clever dolphins!

 

 

                                                              Most recent history of our dolphins continued on page 3 here

 

 

 

 SEE BELOW FOR QUICK NOTES ON SOME OF THE CURRENT KNOWN MAIN BREEDING FEMALES AND THEIR KNOWN ( DOCUMENTED) CALVES