A New Species of Dolphin!
It is incredible how little we actually know about the aquatic world. There are so many mysteries left to be solved in this world so at Beaufort Dolphin Adventures we get pretty excited when a new one is unlocked. This is especially true, when the new found information has to do with our local bottlenose dolphins.
Up until recently it was believed that dolphins that lived along the East Coast and dolphins that lived offshore in the Atlantic Ocean were all the same species of common bottlenose dolphins. It was known that many of these dolphins preferred to live closer to land while others liked to live out at sea but this was not enough of a difference to classify them as different species. However, after nearly 10 years of research, scientist with NOAA and the University of Miami, have concluded that these two groups of dolphins are in fact separate species. Their findings come from DNA, as well as the examination of the bone structures of these dolphins. Offshore dolphins still hold the name common bottlenose dolphins while the newly discovered inland species of dolphins are now classified as Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins.
Tamanend's bottlenose dolphin inhabit coastal and inland waters between Florida and New York. These are the dolphins the we see nearly every day in Beaufort, SC. In fact, Beaufort County contains 54,485 acres of estuarine areas that supports a healthy population of more than 400 Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins. Another interesting fact that makes our local dolphins especially unique is that they like to feed using a technique known as strand feeding.
On most days Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins in the Beaufort are easy to find at all times of the day. Being mammals they must come up to breath air by breaching frequently. Our dolphins can often be seen breaching near local beaches, boardwalks, and docks but the best way to find them is from a boat. Our dolphins are not boat shy and can often be found and observed breaching, playing, traveling, and feeding. Beaufort Dolphin Adventures specializes in dolphin boat tours in Beaufort, SC. These dolphins are wild so our tours can never guarantee what we’ll see, but it is rare to not find dolphins and its always an adventure looking for them. While we are on the boat we also love to share so much other information about our unique and still mysterious estuary.