It's exciting to see Bottlenose Dolphins off the Mendonoma coast! They have been expanding their territory northward over the past few years. Karen Wilkinson found a pod of these dolphins quite close in at Smuggler's Cove off The Sea Ranch in mid-August. She took many,  many photos, which were shared with Bill Keener of Golden Gate Cetacean Research.

Bill wrote, “I was positively able to ID three individuals. First, I was able to confirm that the female we call Sakura has a new calf. She had calves before in Monterey Bay, then about five years ago she had a calf off San Francisco, and now this is her new calf.

“You can tell that the calf is about a month old because of the vertical pale stripes on its body – those are called ‘fetal folds’ which are stretch marks due to the curled-up position the calf had while in the uterus.” Bill said the marks last a couple of months before they fade away.

Bill was pleased to see Karen had photographed Bliss, an older female. Bill wrote, “Bliss is one of the oldest dolphins in [our records.] She was first seen in San Diego in 1982! She is likely in her mid-40s or 50 years old now. Glad she is still going strong!”

The other Bottlenose Dolphin Bill was able to ID was a male named Shiloh. Neither Sakura or Shiloh had been spotted further north than Bodega Bay until now. They were seen years ago in Monterey Bay, but the past six or seven years they have been seen in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Karen also photographed an unknown adult Bottlenose Dolphin and she has a calf with her, which you can see in the photo above. Bill wrote, “As for the unidentified dolphin, now begins a longer process of trying to figure out if it has been seen before in another part of California. It’s fairly uncommon for us to see a totally brand-new adult animal before. But it can happen.”

Here are a few more photos Karen took that day.

And here is a map Karen drew of her sighting at Smuggler's Cove.

Thanks to Karen for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

We are having an oh-so-lovely day this Sunday. It would be a good day to spot...bottlenose dolphins!