Dolphins Plus Marine Mammal Responder Blog

A Behind the Scenes Look At the Connect to Protect Gala 

Life became a little more interesting for our team back in 2016 when we welcomed two very round, very uncoordinated, and very cute baby dolphins to our family. Tug was born to Dinghy on September 25th and Jett was born to Jessica on November 24th, just shy of two months apart. Both male calves were sired by Alfonz and have grown up together over the past five years. During that time, we’ve been able to get to know them and watch their personalities change and develop.

The four pillars of DPMMR include Animal Care, Education and Outreach, Scientific Investigation, and Rescue and Rehabilitation. While all four pillars are critical to our Connect to Protect mission, one of the most important is Animal Care, which for us simply means providing the absolute best care and welfare for the dolphins that reside at our facility and depend on us. 

Dinghy. Ding-a-ling. Ding. Ding-dong. Mother. 

Alfonz - Alfonz continues to be the "big man on campus" and continues to work on learning a new "belly breach" behavior with Kayla. This month, he stayed busy interacting with our locals in the Florida Keys, celebrating our "Local Love" month with $50 swims for Monroe County residents. In an effort to provide variety and mental stimulation for Alfonz, this month the trainers decided to put a creative spin on how we run the Splash & Wade program, which Alfonz participates in almost daily. Instead of simply running the program from the platform, trainers jumped on Kayaks, rafts, and even into the water to conduct the program, which Alfonz seemed to adore! 

Although Dolphins Plus Marine Mammal Responder (DPMMR) in Key Largo typically offers a locals special every year, this year’s special seems to hold a higher significance for both Monroe County Residents and the dolphins who call DPMMR their forever home.  

July 28th is a special day for DPMMR. It's the day each year we celebrate another trip around the sun with our big guy Bob! 

We sat down with Senior Marine Mammal Specialist, Wendy Kellam, to talk about her history with DPMMR and dolphins. We asked her a series of questions, and here's what she had to say: 

There's nothing like a "punny" meme to get you through your quarantine. So, just for fun, here's ten of our favorite marine mammal memes.

If you have visited DPMMR or follow our social media channels, you have probably met our 26 year-old, male, Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Alfonz.