National Sibling Day

April 10th is National Sibling Day.

 

Calusa and Pandora are half-sisters and the best of friends.

 

Best friends and sisters for life :)

 

 

They love to create mischief, grab attention, and be silly with one another.

 

If you have a sibling that you adore, go to our facebook page and share this photo with them!

Speedster Gambit!

Gambit loves to play!

There are certain behaviors that each dolphin loves. Right now, Gambit loves his speed runs. Whenever he’s asked for it, he gets incredibly excited and cannot wait to show off how awesome he can race. Gambit makes many of his behaviors into a combination activity by opting to turn them into a need for speed.

Recently, Gambit gave a guest a super speedy backrub. He literally flew past her, did a large circle around his lagoon, and then came back to the dock. When his trainer asked him to go a bit slower, he took off again with the same intensity.

She then asked Gambit for his shark impression and he did an awesome speed shark combo. It looked like a shark hyped up on caffeine and had everyone who watched in giggles.
The greatest thing about the dolphins at DRC is that they’re welcome to be individuals. If Gambit decides for the next year all he wants to do is speedy sharks, he’s more than welcome to show off his signature behavior. We love seeing each of their dolphinalities come to life as they show off their creativity and uniqueness.

Gypsi Smacks It Out Of the Park

Gypsi works with her trainer, Kelly Jayne, to perfect her back flip.

For a six year old, Gypsi’s athleticism is unbelievable. She has the best back tail walk out of all of the dolphins, dives higher with each day, and is mastering new behaviors that dolphins are taught at an older age. Being the daughter of Tursi, our Flipper daughter, and Rainbow, a jock of a dolphin, it’s no surprise that Gypsi enjoys staying active.

The newest behavior Gypsi has begun to learn is her back flip. To do a back flip, a dolphin flies out of the water, does a somersault, and completes a full 360 turn. Each of the dolphins at Dolphin Research Center, that knows how to do a flip, has put their own spin on their back flip. Some fall back into the water face first, while others lead with their tail. It’s interesting to see how each unique dolphin does the same action.

Gypsi, who takes after her athletic parents, loves to give every new endeavor 110 percent. With her trainer, Kelly Jayne, Gypsi always works hard when it’s time to practice back flips. They’ll try it from different areas of the lagoon, and various heights.

At the beginning of a session, Kelly Jayne stood on the sea lion boardwalk, which is several feet higher than the dock. She carried an extra long target pole with her, which Gypsi uses to determine how high she needs to get out of the water to do the entire turn by smacking it with her tail flukes. From the boardwalk, Gypsi had a bit of a hard time reaching the target. Kelly Jayne gave her several attempts to reach the target pole from that height. Then, they moved over to a lower dock to continue the session.

As soon as Gypsi saw Kelly Jayne reach the target pole out over the lagoon, she knew she was going to hit the target. She was given the hand signal for back flip, dove down into the water to gather speed, flew out of the lagoon, and smacked the target pole so hard it flew out of Kelly Jayne’s hands. As the bar took to the air, Kelly Jayne raised her arms over her head to make sure it didn’t hit her as gravity pulled it down.

Once it had safely returned to the ground, Kelly Jayne and the rest of her audience laughed intensely. Gypsi had decided she was going to get the target pole and that’s exactly what she did! Yet again this little one proved that her determination goes far beyond any behavior.

Gypsi still has work to do on her back flip, but we’re certain she’ll have it down in no time. This little girl doesn’t give up. If she continues to take after her parents, Gypsi will amaze people with her agile body and perseverance for a long time.

Find a Rainbow Day!

An amazing double Rainbow!

In a rainbow, raindrops that are in the air act like little tine prisms, light enters the raindrops, reflects off of the side of the drop and exits. Sunlight enters the rain droplet at a specific angle and the rain droplet separates the whi...te light into many different colors. This angle is a fixed measurement between your eye and the sun. What color is refracted depends upon the critical angle, which is the angle the sunlight strikes the back of the rain droplet. Red light bends the least, exiting the rain droplet at a 42 degree angle, while Violet light bends the most, exiting the rain droplet at a 40 degree angle. All of the other colors of the rainbow exit the rain droplets at some angle between 40 and 42 degrees, thus making up the colors of the rainbow ROYGBIV, this order never changes.

Dolphin Research Center is surrounded by beauty, but on one particularly gorgeous day we were able to snap this photo. Turns out it’s perfect for April 3rd: Find a Rainbow Day. Not only is there magnificence in the sky, but the handsome dolphin soaring through it is Rainbow! This is by far the most amazing double rainbow we’ve ever seen.

The Old Switcheroo

Can you tell which dolphin is which?

Talon and Pax are half brothers and to an untrained eye, look almost identical. They’re both large, extremely athletic, and take after their mother, Tursi, in their physical characteristics. Besides their looks, these two have very similar dolphinalities as well. Both try to get their trainers soaked on sessions, are lovably loud, and have impressive aerial behaviors. Sometimes you can’t help but mix up these two boys.

Recently, they had a fun time causing a little mischief with their trainers. Pax constantly took Talon’s place while Talon pretended he didn’t notice. Due to how excited the trainers, crowd, and dolphins were, there were a few times that nobody noticed they had switched places. It was comedic gold.
At the end of the session, it was time for Talon to get his water, a medical behavior we train all of the dolphins which allows us to give them extra hydration. His trainer, who was having a blast answering questions from the audience, wasn’t paying full attention and didn’t realize at first that Pax had taken Talon’s place. She went along the usual routine; let Pax sit on her feet and sprayed his mouth with teeth cleaner as she chatted on about dolphins. It wasn’t until she looked down again to show him the tube that she realized she didn’t have Talon. She had Pax!

Pax must have thought the switch was hilarious because he couldn’t help but blow a raspberry at her once she figured it out. Talon acted as if he had no idea what was going on, but we all knew he was in on the joke too! As his trainer got ready to water the correct dolphin, she gave Pax a smooch to show there were no hard feelings.

We love that the dolphins have their own unique dolphinalities and enjoy play time with their human friends. Talon and Pax are two guys you have to make sure you keep your eyes on. They love to mess around with us and keep us on our toes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAX!

 

 

We'd like to wish Pax a Happy Sweet 16! On Easter Sunday, in 1997, DRC was blessed by Pax's birth. Due to his birthdate, Pax was named in honor of the latin word "peace". Don't you agree that being in the presence of a dolphin is one of the most peaceful feelings?

 

Happy Birthday Pax-man. We love you!

Aleta Starts The Show

Aleta knows she's in charge!

It’s a known fact that Dolphin Research Center runs on dolphin time. Whatever the dolphins want to do is what they do. Whether it’s an in water program with guests or a training session, the dolphins decide their schedule.

This includes when it’s time to start a program as well. During a session with her lagoon mates, Pandora and Merina, Aleta started the program before anyone was ready. When she saw her trainer carry the buckets over to her dock, Aleta began to do cartwheels somersaults to get attention. She was so ready to play that she couldn’t contain her excitement and made sure that everyone had their eyes on her.

As the trainers talked to the guests who were waiting to spend some quality time with dolphins, Aleta became the star of her own show. With screams and whistles, she “narrated” to the audience about what was going on and hurried her trainer down onto the tray. Before symbols were in the water, Aleta took off on a dive. As she soared through the air, her lagoon mates found their designated seats and caught up with her.

Aleta loves the attention she receives from guests so much that she can’t help but make a splash. She loves the camera, the affection, and the glamorous dive lifestyle that she lives here at DRC. It’s all fun and games when it comes to the beautiful and talented Aleta.