08/29/2019
A Monkey Mia Legend named Puck
Janet Mann
9-April-2019
I wouldnât normally write a eulogy for a dolphin, but Puck, an Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin who has delighted millions of people over the last 42 years, deserves such exception. She was born in December of 1976, although the exact date is unknown. Her mother, Crooked Fin, was well known to fishers at Monkey Mia â as she was often quite willing to take a hand-out from their catch. As a young calf, Puck accompanied her mother everywhere and had little fear of humans. Her trust of them was evident once she was weaned at about age 4. Although uninterested in fish handouts at the time, she often swam alongside people â and dutifully chased northwest blowies away from unsuspecting swimmers.
When Crooked Fin died in 1992, Puck looked after Cookie, her young brother, who was orphaned at age 3. Cookie, just old enough to survive his motherâs death, was still quite vulnerable and Puck insured that he had family to fall back on until he reached adulthood. Puck lost 4 offspring in her long life, all soon after birth, but this is not unusual for a wild dolphin. She successfully raised two daughters (Piccolo and Kiya) and two sons (India and Samu) and has 6 grandchildren. Great-grandchildren are on the way. Her only brother, Cookie, is still alive and well at age 30, and occasionally checks in with his extended family.
Puck was also the subject of long-term study, and was one of the most important dolphins in our research. We knew her entire life history, every calf she had and every calf she lost. Although she visited Monkey Mia almost daily, she had an active social life away from the beach, and was a talented hunter who engaged in diverse hunting tactics ranging from partially beaching herself to catch fish (breame or mullet), to rooster-tailing (blasting full speed at the surface and diving down quickly), to coaxing fish from seagrass beds. She even tried to use a basket marine sponge as a tool once, a tactic typically restricted to those born to other sponge tool users. Puck only became interested in fish hand-outs once she started having offspring in her teens. She was nursing her own offspring and hungry â but she retained her hunting talents for life.
Her first surviving calf, Piccolo, visits Monkey Mia daily to this day and like her mother, has successfully produced 3 offspring. But catastrophe struck when she was a year old. Puck was hunting near a net and without fear of humans, she charged close to the net to pick off mullet that were not trapped in the other side. I was watching her from the boat. Unfortunately she got too close and managed to wrap herself in the net. She couldnât surface to breathe. Piccolo was in a panic, whistling so loud she could be heard in air, darting back and forth. I yelled for the fisherman, who was working the other end of the net. Minutes went by before the fisher unwrapped her and she could breathe. Cut and bleeding badly from the net, she sped away with Piccolo. Piccolo stayed in âbaby positionâ underneath her for a full 20 minutes, not leaving her side. I stayed with them until they resumed a slow swimming speed and the bleeding stopped. Piccolo was far too young to survive the loss of her mother. Fortunately, Puck recovered from her injuries, although the rope marks and cuts to her dorsal fin and flipper remained as a reminder to all of us.
Piccolo and her younger sister, Kiya, were about as close to Puck as mothers and daughters can be. Of the 1500+ dolphins we study, no kinship bonds are as strong. With her sons, India and Samu, she nursed them for a long time (5 and 8 years respectively), but once weaned, the bond weakened and she only saw them periodically. Neither son seemed too interested in leaving Puckâs side (evident by the late weaning), but both have managed to develop strong bonds with other males their own age.
Puck was the center of several documentaries, notably the BBCâs âThe Dolphins of Shark Bayâ produced in 2011. A popular childrenâs book by the same name, authored by Pamela Turner, recounts Puckâs life.
Puck was one of the oldest dolphins we have followed over the years. A few have made it into their mid or late-forties. We knew Samu would be her last calf, as mothers sometimes nurse the last one for a very long time. She weaned Samu in 2018, and since regained much of the weight she lost nursing such a large calf. But, she insured his survival, giving him her all.
She leaves a great legacy and a large family, which millions more will hopefully see in years to come. I will miss her.
Janet Mann is a Professor of Biology at Georgetown University in Washington DC. She has studied the Monkey Mia and Shark Bay dolphins for over 30 years and written 100s of articles and two books: Deep Thinkers: Inside the minds of whales, dolphins, and porpoises (2017) and Cetacean Societies (2000), both with University of Chicago Press. (Photo by Margaret Stanton, monkeymiadolphins.org)
