National Dolphin Day

April 14, 2020 (Tuesday)

Do you remember “Flipper?” He was the star of a TV show that ran 4 years from 1964 through 1967.

Dolphins are not fish; they are mammals, like us. They are friendly and intelligent. They live in shallow waters and continental shelves, leading to frequent sightings and human contact. Growing from 4 to 30 feet long, their main diet is fish and squid.

On most any day if you take the ferry to Port Aransas, you will see dolphins moving parallel to the ship. The general public loves to see them as they greet us, almost waving at us with their fins. They look for all the world like they are smiling, but that’s just the way they look. I can hear a Mama Dolphin talking to her son, “If you frown your face will freeze like that. So smile!”

Fishermen, especially commercial fishermen, hate to see them show up when they are having a good catch, because all those fish in the nets look like breakfast to them. When the fish know they are present, they swim away to safer waters.

For a while some years ago, Dolphins were caught in our bays and put in a pen at Key Allegro, where they were then trained for a Galveston show. They were taught to perform in order to collect their food. If anyone wanted to see that spectacle, all they had to do was drive over to Key Allegro and watch the feeding. They were really wonderful. They did all sorts of antics and even talked. Their feeding time provided a free show for the folks from Rockport.

This is called a “National” day, but there are many dolphin themed events and educational programs around the world on this day. It seems like almost everyone around the world loves dolphins.

You can celebrate National Dolphin Day in many ways, including:
Go to an aquarium to see dolphins.
Read about dolphins
Seek out one of the many special events for this day.
Support groups seeking to protect dolphins

Thought for the Day: Dolphins are so smart, that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish. lol, or as we used to say, “ha ha.”