Talk to the Flukes

Cayo's Tail.

Each of the dolphins here has their own dolphinality. Some are laid back, while others love to tease us. When it comes to spunk, however, Cayo is a dolphin that cannot be mistaken for any other. During a recent Dolphin Encounter, Miss Cayo showed yet again while DRC always says we run on dolphin time. If she didn’t want to do a behavior she didn’t.

Normally an uninterested dolphin swims away from the dock to explore. Sometimes they’ll visit with their friends at another station or they’ll check out something in their lagoon. Cayo, on the other hand, made it clear she wanted to do something other than what we asked.
 
Regardless of what high energy behavior she was asked to do, Cayo politely said “talk to the tail flukes” by turning upside down and doing a dolphin head stand in the water, and waving her tail in the air. Each time she did it, her in water guests laughed. They loved the animation behind Cayo’s distinct disposition.

Cayo’s lack of interest in several other behaviors didn’t cause any issues with the guests. It turns out that at that session, she was far more interested in backrubs and flipper shakes than in aerial behaviors. She even let the trainer give her a tail fluke massage at the dock. Leave it to Cayo to let you know exactly what she wants!