A couple of dolphins came by while I was getting the boat ready to fish at the dock of an IOP house we stayed at Thanksgiving week. Being your typical tourist, of course I pulled out the phone hoping to get some video to show the kids, who weren’t around at the time.
I didn’t realize it, but apparently they were coraling up some bait before one moved in for the kill.
Maybe this is common?..but I’ve never witnessed it myself and thought it was pretty cool to see.
I don’t have a video editor, so just start it at about the halfway point.
Dolphins are such friendly, peaceful critters but they are efficient killing machines too. You ever seen video of the ones that strand feed on schools of mullet at Kiawah? I was watching a show on Discovery the other day. Apparently the lowcountry is the only place on earth that behavior has been observed. They always beach on their right side.
they are methodical in their ways of getting fish. you will see them round them up…sound- sound…smack and sling their tails…sometimes sending a shower of fish in the process… and as they said…sometimes beach themselves like torpedoes way up on the flats as they gobble up their prey…then have to wigge to get free again. Last weekend everytime Id find fish a dolphin(I still call them porpoise) would show up. dang thing wouldnt even thank me for pointing out the excellent fishing spot i was sitting in :)…but they do put on quite a show
I was really fascinated by strand feeding and would take visitors out. The right side thing pointed out by OccamsRazor never registered with me but I went back and looked at a ton of pictures and every one is on the right side. The neatest parts, to me, are the teamwork and preparation. Some seem hold to the sides, penning the bait while others rush from the channel. They also really pick their spots -before they start, you can see them stick their heads out of the water and look at the bank. Just a theory but we think they are checking for clear mud, free of oysters.
That’s something I never get tired of watching, don’t even care if it messes up the fishing. Watching them throw a dozen redfish or mullet on the bank then slither up and eat them is amazing. Those animals are smart, team players for sure
Never noticed the right side thing, I’ll have to pay attention to that next time. I have seen them do the same thing in the Everglades and in the Indian River in east central Florida though, so I don’t buy the only here in the Low Country line from Discovery. They need to get out more
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
check out the cool video posted to our Save The Light page by Pamela Blair Thomasson showing strand feeding on the sandbars near the Morris Island Lighthouse https://www.facebook.com/groups/56444901388/ oh and join the group if you like! we still need your help!
and I’m with you Cracker, I never tire of watching them strand feed…amazing creatures…
They also really pick their spots -before they start, you can see them stick their heads out of the water and look at the bank. Just a theory but we think they are checking for clear mud, free of oysters.
I have also noticed them “head-bob” just before they strand…cool stuff…
whether the culturally-transmitted behavior has increased in its range over time, or if people are just putting all the pieces together now i don’t know, but i had heard the range included some of florida recently Larry. i believe some bottlenoses on the northern (?) coast of australia have figured it out too.
if i can remember the facts correctly, a graduate student watched them in the stono and found back in the late 90’s that it’s usually the males, they do it more in the colder months (when mullet, reds, and trout are about the only prey items around), and it’s almost always between 2 and 4 individuals.
i was told that the right side thing is physiological- it’s because the blowhole is a single nostril that had to migrate to the top of their head by going around one side, and that the other side is now occupied by their esophagus… so if they were on their left sides, they’d have to swallow “up” which isn’t possible.
They also really pick their spots -before they start, you can see them stick their heads out of the water and look at the bank. Just a theory but we think they are checking for clear mud, free of oysters.
I have also noticed them “head-bob” just before they strand…cool stuff…
A couple of dolphins came by while I was getting the boat ready to fish at the dock of an IOP house we stayed at Thanksgiving week. Being your typical tourist, of course I pulled out the phone hoping to get some video to show the kids, who weren’t around at the time.
I didn’t realize it, but apparently they were coraling up some bait before one moved in for the kill.
Maybe this is common?…but I’ve never witnessed it myself and thought it was pretty cool to see…
</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>If you were vacationing in that area back in the 60’s you might have seen me and my brothers doing the same thing to catch bait. A bit further up along Goat Island we would smack baitfish up onto the mud banks with pluffmudd balls at low tide. That was years before I ever saw a dolphin doing it. And… I have never gotten a thank you from one of those creatures YET!.
I recall seeing a few dolphin making up some mudballs on the Goat Island bank just across from IOP Marina, but after finding out how smart our dolphins are here in SC I didn’t think a whole lot about it and just figured they were getting ready to do some shrimpin.
Always very cool to watch, we’ve seen it a few times cruising to Morris Island. I previously heard a physical reason for the right side only but couldn’t remember exactly as I was reading the post - cue Barbawang and he was dead on! I recall one of the nature mini-series with all of the incredible footage of animals showing footage of this and they discussed both things - right side only and unique to the southeast coast.
I recall seeing a few dolphin making up some mudballs on the Goat Island bank just across from IOP Marina, but after finding out how smart our dolphins are here in SC I didn’t think a whole lot about it and just figured they were getting ready to do some shrimpin.
</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>Give them another thousand years and they will be able to purchas fish meal over the counter and throw a cast net but, till then… they will have to continue to splash bait up on the bank at low tide like any local 7 year old would.
