Swell time to flip out
LIKE their two-legged friends, dolphins can get pretty excited when a big swell hits the Gold Coast, according to a leading Southern Cross University researcher. But Dr Liz Hawkins said more research is needed to find out what the dolphins, regularly spotted mixing it with surfers off Snapper Rocks, were doing. “When there is a flat spell for a few days and we get a lot of swell they seem to love it,” Dr Hawkins told The Bulletin. “There’s absolutely an element of fun, I think it is part of their culture, however it is hard to prove scientifically.” She said what scientists do know is that dolphins coming close to shore are usually bottlenose dolphins and the activity is important for sorting out their social hierarchy.
“Surfing could be part of defining social standing, play, reproductive activities and feeding,” she said. “They can use the waves as stealth after forcing fish in close to shore.”
She said the pods seen off Snapper Rocks were more than likely groups of females feeding and resting. She said they had made the popular surf break their own.
Dr Hawkins could not say whether they enjoy sharing the waves with boardriders.
“They (dolphins) all have individual behaviours,” she said.
“It’s the same as people, everyone has a different personality. Sometimes we’re interested in other people, other times we’re not.”
She said the best way to get close to the protected animals was to stay put.
Dr Hawkins encouraged amateur dolphin watchers to report sightings to dolphinresearchaustralia.com