Our correspondent Gonzalo Aranzabal in San Sebastian (Basque region of northern Spain) reports that the solo dolphin known as Flint or Paquito has left the harbour. According to some fishermen who observed the occasion, a small group of about 6 bottlenose dolphins entered the harbour on 19th March and were greeted by Flint with a lot of excitement and leaping around. After a short period of interaction, all the dolphins left the harbour together and have not been seen since.
As far as we know, Flint's residency in San Sebastian had been constant for over 5 years.
Gonzalo and his friend Txoko have been swimming with Flint on a very regular basis since 1999 so they were naturally sad to find that he had left. However, as Gonzalo says, this is the best possible way for him to go and we heartily agree.
We reported in October 2003 that Dusty had disappeared from her usual haunts in Fanore with some other dolphins, only to re-appear a week later, so it will be interesting to see if Flint disappears for good or if he shows up again in San Sebastian or elsewhere after a while.
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