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Solo dolphin in San Sebastián
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As well as reporting on interactive dolphins in Irish waters, we try to keep tabs on other interactive dolphins world-wide, though we don’t currently have the time or resources to co-ordinate the information or make it available on the website. News from Ireland is scarce at the moment as we start to emerge from winter hibernation, so we bring you a report here on an interactive dolphin in San Sebastián, in the Basque country of north-eastern Spain.
San Sebastián (population about 200,000) is a fashionable tourist resort and former fishing port on the Bay of Biscay, as well as being a centre for the struggle for Basque independence. A lone male bottlenose dolphin now known as 'Paquito' or 'Flint' took up residence in the area in November 1998 and with the mild weather at that time of year people were in swimming with him almost straight away. Our correspondent Gonzalo Garaioa Aranzabal started swimming with the dolphin in the spring of 1999 and has been a regular ever since. For a while there was a small band of other young men who seemed to be well on the way to establishing a close report with the dolphin, but nowadays Gonzalo and his friend Txoko seem to be the only ones keeping him company.
Flint seems to be similar in behaviour to Fungie the Dingle dolphin in many ways. He approaches swimmers and divers to within 10m, sometimes to within 1m or 2m, and usually comes over immediately to greet his regular admirers, but does not allow himself to be touched. This may be one reason why many people have lost interest in swimming with him, although those like Gonzalo who have persevered do feel that they have built a good friendship with him. Flint is also a champion jumper, often leaping very high out of the water, just like Fungie when he’s ‘on form’. He seems to be more vocal, though, often emitting a range of loud whistles and clicks which Gonzalo is hoping to be able to record.
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The oil spill from the Prestige tanker, sunk in October 2002 off north-western Spain, continues to threaten the coastline all along the Bay of Biscay, and despite the Herculean efforts of local fishermen – who have already salvaged 18,000 tonnes of oil from neighbouring seas – small quantities have also penetrated the bay of San Sebastián. So far the dolphin does not appear to have suffered, despite being seen surfacing within the area of an oil slick. This mirrors the experience we had this time last year with the Dingle oil spill, when Fungie was also seen surfacing to breathe within the slick but without suffering any apparent distress. Thankfully the pollution in San Sebastián has also been minor up to now, but nevertheless on a recent swim (16th February) it was enough to coat masks and fins with oil and to make Gonzalo and Txoko physically sick. This kind of experience is also a factor in putting off all but the most determined swimmers. Subsequently the winds got up and moved the oil slick away from the town, its dolphin and its famous La Concha beach, but naturally there remain fears that more will arrive, as it is known that thousands of tonnes remain in the tanker where it lies on the seabed.
It is by comparing the behaviour of these different interactive dolphins, which make themselves available to us to study, that we learn so much about dolphins in general. We look forward to getting more news of Flint and his behaviour and we send our prayers that San Sebastián will be spared further pollution and that its friendly dolphin will continue to delight locals and visitors for many years to come.
© March 2003 Graham Timmins
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Date
Posted: 07/03/2003
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