Tursi Gets Younger With Age

Tursi loves to have a good time!

Recently, Tursi became the designated mom in the front lagoon as the other mother and calf pairs weaned. She now shares the lagoon with her two year old son, Gambit, two year old Flagler, three year olds Delta, Louie, and Luna, and six year olds Cayo and Gypsi. For any other mother, this may have been a fluke full, but Tursi is our supermom. She enjoys every single minute of it.

As she continues to nurse and teach Gambit, she’s also taken Flagler and Delta under her flipper. The four them can often be seen swimming around the lagoon together. Being a naturally nurturing dolphin, Tursi easily keeps all of the youngsters in line.

Not only is Tursi blissfully happy to be the resident mom, but she’s also learning a lot from her younger lagoon mates. She’s begun to be more lenient in her mothering style. Normally, during a session Tursi will swim away to check on Gambit. However, she’s begun to do this less frequently and even allows him to play with more objects than she has in the past.

The funniest part of all is that Tursi has decided she, once again, enjoys a game of seaweed toss with her human friends! She often brings a wad of sea grass over to the dock for her friends to throw back out to her. She’s done this with several staff and volunteers, on different occasions. This game is often played by the much younger dolphins, so it’s refreshing to see Tursi get in on the action. The youngsters may have inspired her!

As she plays, Gambit watches. Not only is Tursi interacting with her human family but at the same time she’s teaching Gambit how to play. This ensures that Gambit knows the rules but also allows him to play a bit on his own. When she’s decided the game is over she happily swims away with her son in tow.