[MARINE_BIOLOGY_INTERNATIONAL] "Beggar" the dolphin: danger to himself & humans

Public service announcement discusses dolphin dangers
BY JACKIE BARRON

News Channel 8

Along a stretch of southern Sarasota Bay near Nokomis, a chance sighting causes boaters to idle and break the law.

Here, Beggar the dolphin likes to bounce from group to group, hoping to snag a snack and sometimes seizing a finger a long the way.

"What Beggar sees when someone puts their hand out is somebody who is not feeding him," said Randy Wells, who oversees Mote Marine Laboratory's dolphin research program.

He recently heard someone tried to shove something in the nearly 30-year-old dolphin's blow hole.

"They throw all sorts of things at him," Wells said. "They drop all kinds of things in his mouth. It's a wonder he's still alive. He really should have died a long time ago given the kinds of things he's been force fed."

It's the reason Mote scientists regularly take to the water to try to educate boaters about the dangers of messing with a wild animal.

"He does have nicks on him from boat propellers, we believe," Wells said.

An instance of a mooching dolphin has had tragic consequences elsewhere.

"There's one recent example up in the Panhandle of a bottle-nosed dolphin taking discarded fish from anglers and, while it was distracted taking fish from the fisherman, in the water a large mako shark came up bit his tail off and then killed the dolphin," Wells said.

The increasing threat prompted Mote to launch a public service announcement featuring cartoon creatures such as raccoons and seagulls listening to "Beggar" at "Nature's Way Rehab."

The short video begins with Beggar saying, "For me it started with one hit of sardines." It ends with Beggar looking into the camera and saying, "Look, I know that I could kick this if people would just stop feeding me."

The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act makes disturbing dolphins and other marine mammals against the law. People can be fined if found in violation.

Wells said that with this week's surge of winter visitors it's critical "Beggar Message" makes a difference. "They (the dolphins) need to be saved from the things we do even when we think we're doing something that's to their benefit."