There’s a new kid in town, that is, at Inisheer! And a kid indeed, estimated to be 6 years old, supposedly from France, definitely from England and lastly residing at County Cork. The very first question has to be asked yet: How on earth did they find each other?!
Clet, as the youngster has been christened, came in from the south and has probably swum along the mainland. Inisheer is about 10 km out into the ocean. So that would be the range they have contacted each other across. And then people laugh at me when I say the shrieking of children hurts Dusty’s ears.
In spite of his age Clet must already have a history of violence and abuse. His dorsal fin looks shredded, as if a big bite was taken out and quite a while ago too, since it’s rather overgrown. He has many rake marks from the teeth of other dolphins on his body and fluke, which has two virtually identical notches on either side. On his tailstock are parallel cuts on both sides in a pattern that suggests they were very deep and caused by the propellor of a boat.
FOTO .38+Clet to Dusty
Before you go all soft on him I need to tell you Clet viciously attacked Trevor, ‘he went for my head three times’. On the following videos you can see Trevor stroking Clet affectionately.
There is no clear cause for these, nor for the other attack on a Canadian girl who got hurt pretty badly. You can see Dusty swimming in between several times. They swim together most of the time and engage in boisterous play. From the sudden occurrence of the attacks it is not likely that they are triggered from a permanent condition. As Clet is comparatively in his teens, they could be ascribed to puberty, a hormonal up-surge. Among the regular swimmers it has been agreed we best leave Clet alone, not to try and touch him and to leave his upbringing to Dusty.
Dusty looks very content with her new pal. It’s very unusual for two solitary dolphins to team up. I have always thought that Dusty was too smart for her pod and therefor was thrown out or chose to leave on her own accord. Clet is known for accidentally bumping in to swimmers and has aggressive streaks. Maybe his clumsiness and his mood swings were debit to him being expelled from his pod. He definitely looks grim in comparison to Dusty.
About a romance between the two of them I think it will take a few years, if ever. Generally male bottlenose dolphins become sexually mature between 10 and 15 (where females do between 5 and 13). Dusty will be Clet’s big sister for some years to come, while he will be experimenting with his sexuality. He has already been seen several times with his penis extended. There is no way of predicting if Clet will stay, nor so about Dusty.
I did a few attempts to touch Clet, but he did not let me. He came a few times head on, sonaring and moving his head from side to side. He seems to be wary of my waterwing.
The first time I swam with him I had my dorsal fin on, which prompted Trevor to call me a hybrid dolphin. Long time anyone said such a nice thing to me. Perhaps Clet is a wee bit puzzled by my appearance. He surely isn’t the first.
Five swimmers rescued by coast guard after being attacked by a dolphin in Galway
Clet’s stay at Inisheer lasted 9 days. We will never know if he chose to move on himself or if Dusty flicked him out. In a way it’s good riddance for Dusty. She has a hard time enough as it is without Clet.
For Clet it’s sad. If he keeps on behaving like this he won’t be welcome anywhere, the least among his fellow dolphins. I hate to think how he will end up…