A PLAYFUL, mysterious and photogenic dolphin in the bay finally has a name. The Dolphin Research Institute announced that dolphin #89, a flippered local of Port Phillip Bay’s unique community of common dolphins, will be named Nellie following a community “name the dolphin” competition.Nellie made waves after being spotted in 2022, stealing hearts and even seen babysitting another dolphin’s young calf. Researchers didn’t know whether Nellie was male or female just yet – as it’s quite hard to tell – and the name needed to take this into account.The institute said there were “many lovely and a few wacky suggestions”…
Browsing: Dolphin
A HEARTWARMING discovery of a new baby dolphin in Port Phillip Bay has created a whirl of excitement for scientists from the peninsula’s Dolphin Research Institute. The newborn calf, born in the middle of November, marked an exciting milestone for the dolphin community – with the sighting being even more remarkable as Port Phillip is the only bay in the world where common dolphins reside.Ella Hutchinson, the Institute’s Williamson Research Fellow, expressed her delight. “It wasn’t until I uploaded the images to my computer that I realised the significance of this tiny dolphin,” she said. “At first, I couldn’t believe…
RESEARCHERS are excited and confused by early sightings of whales in Port Phillip and Western Port. Dolphin Research Institute executive director Jeff Weir said whales usually showed up in June “so this is quite extraordinary – but then again so is 25 degrees in Mornington harbour”. Mr Weir said the first report of whale off Seaford “sounded more like a false killer whale”. Since then reports of a humpback whale have come from sailors at Somers and Balnarring. “One of the people from Somers Yacht Club seems very knowledgeable about humpbacks. We also had a reliable sighting of a humpback…