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Three Amigos

by Scarlet Colley - July, 1999

It’s been an exciting month on the Bay. Our dolphins have been absolutely wonderful. The Laguna Madre is teaming with bait fish and the dolphins are taking advantage of this plentiful time of year. Since we last wrote of Cookie, we have seen her almost daily and have been able to introduce her to many dolphin enthusiasts. Her dorsal fin has quite a few tag-a-long barnacles right now, so its a little hard to distinguish, just let her flash that single-fluke tail fin though, you will know her.

We promised to introduce you to the Three Amigos and of course that means they have made themselves scarce these past couple of weeks. They must be vacationing in Mexico. Lucky, Ned, and Dusty are always together, playing and rousting about. Lucky has the most distinguishable mark, an “L” on his dorsal. We have had many hours of joy observing these three dolphins rolling and splashing. They reminded me so much of the movie “The Three Amigos” and with that L on the fin, it seemed a good way to name them. So here we have Lucky Day, Dusty Bottoms, and Ned Neiderland, the three dolphins. We can’t wait for their return.

Recently we had the privilege of our namesake, Skimmer, coming close to our boat, the Laguna Skimmer. He rolled upside down and slapped his tail several times. Skimmer has a notch about 3/4 of the way down the back of his dorsal. He also has a very wide base with a large curving back. We are guessing that he is a male, because of his size and we have never seen him with a calf. Skimmer enjoys riding the wakes of boats and we have often observed him leaping out of the waves of the larger boats. He sure likes to pose for cameras, so keep your eyes peeled for him.

Skimmer's Dorsal Fin

We recently saw Skimmer really put on a show. He threw a fish up into the air and a royal tern swooped down and grabbed it mid-air. The bird attempted to fly off with his prize, but realized the fish was just too big, so the tern dropped his prize. Before the fish hit the water, Skimmer, mouth open, grabbed the fish and swallowed it right before our eyes. What an incredible encounter! It’s special times like these that make us realize just how wonderful our families of bottle-nosed dolphins are here in the Bay.

Captain Colley and I have a slide show of the Laguna Madre bottle-nosed dolphins, if anyone group is interested in viewing them.

Please remember that our wild dolphins are protected. It is illegal to feed them, touch them or swim with them. Help us ensure their healthy, happy lives in the wild. If you have any special South Padre Island dolphin encounters you would like to share with us, you can either send a letter or email.

George and Scarlet Colley operate Fins to Feathers photo safaris at Sea ranch Marina. The Laguna Skimmer takes six passengers or lass to encounter and document dolphin activity. For an appointment call 739-BIRD or email us at skimmer@fin2feather.com. Our mailing address is PO Box 5515 Port Isabel, TX 78578

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