Two dolphins swim into a (sand) bar...

At first, there was nothing unusual – just the occasional sounds of breathing as some dolphins swam up Abapoola Creek. But despite their casual demeanor, these creatures were here for a specific purpose. 

 

It began with a splash and a swirl. My dad looked up expectantly from his work in our boat – this was not the first performance near his dock. Suddenly came a wall of water filled with thrashing gray fins and tails. Frothy waves and dozens of fish were thrown into the air, with some landing on the creek’s muddy shore. The dolphins slid partially up onto the bank, grabbed the fish stranded there and left almost as quickly as they came. 

 

Meet the bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, and its peculiar behavior known as “strand feeding.”

 

Who doesn’t love dolphins? They are smart, work in teams, love to jump and play, and almost always look like they are smiling. And in case there is any confusion, these dolphins are mammals and are not related to the popular gamefish Coryphaena hippurus, commonly known as the dolphinfish, mahi-mahi or dorado. Don’t be alarmed when you hear some local fisherman talk about catching a dolphin. He or she is certainly referring to the fish.

 

I would include some fabulous photo of strand feeding if I had one, but it happens so quickly that it’s rare to get a shot. When I asked “Fishing Trends” columnist Greg Peralta if he might share a photo of the behavior, he noted that “It happens so fast, I am never ready.” And Greg is out on the water all the time! 

 

The good news is that an online search of “dolphin strand feeding” will produce several professional and many freelance videos. I particularly enjoyed a couple of short films shot on Seabrook Island by National Geographic. Watching a group, or “pod,” of dolphins, weighing up to 600 pounds beach themselves, grab a quick bite and “walk” themselves back into the water is truly spectacular.

 

“Strand feeding” cannot be observed just anywhere. While it was once thought to be isolated to South Carolina and Georgia, there are now about a half-dozen places in the world where this behavior is observed. That’s not many places for a species that inhabits most of the warm saltwater areas of the earth. 

 

Locally, the Johns Island/Kiawah Island/Seabrook Island area appears to be an epicenter. Perhaps even more fascinating than this high localization is the fact that the dolphins always slide out of the water on their right side – always. There are multiple theories as to why, and I will let the readers investigate and choose which one sounds best to them. I don’t know.  

 

Regardless, what fascinating creatures these bottlenose dolphins are! And we are lucky enough to live in a hotspot for one of their most unique and special behaviors.