Dolphins Plus Marine Mammal Responder Blog

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.

Alfonz - It's business as usual this month for the big man on campus! Alfonz has stayed busy meeting guests from all over the country, playing games with his trainers, and of course... flirting with the ladies! This month, we were able to get a true "weight" on Alfonz for the first time in over 3 years thanks to our brand new dolphin scale. Alfonz weighed in at an impressive 517 pounds, maintaining his title of "biggest dolphin" at DPMMR. 

Happy New Year! 

The turn of each new year brings positive vibes, exciting resolutions and goals, new beginnings, and this year... hope. 

Alfonz - Alfonz and his trainer Kayla have been working on his belly breach and have recently made some strong headway! He is starting to come out of the water and "breach" on his belly. This is a relatively complex behavior that may take a while to build, so stay tuned for updates!  Al is loving it so far, though, and seems to be very excited when he succeeds with a new step in the behavior. 

October has been a busy month for our resident dolphins with the installation of new platforms in both lagoons. Here's how our 7 family members are doing: 

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! 

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! 

My husband, me, and my daughter in my ultimate happy place.

Nancy, How did you end up as the President of DPMMR?

There are no dolphins in Kentucky.