The Blue World Institute’s “Adopt a dolphin” is a platform to sustain the Adriatic Dolphin Project, the longest running conservation research project in our region. Your generous support allows us to maintain our research and conservation activities for bottlenose dolphins – and other dolphin species – and to increase public awareness at local and national levels. It also supports the Dolphin Day, educational programs, and promoting overall protection of the Adriatic marine environment.
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E-ADOPTION is a direct donation to the Blue World Institute and bottlenose dolphin conservation program.
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BASIC ADOPTION is a direct donation to Blue World Institute and our bottlenose dolphin conservation program.
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JUNIOR ADOPTION is a direct donation to Blue World Institute and our bottlenose dolphin conservation program.
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Duje is a young male dolphin seen for the first time on 24.07.2004 in a big group of our most resident males and females among which Elmar, Mush, Fran, Lily, Nataša, Meta and others. Since then we regularly observed him on the eastern side of Lošinj Island. His initially poorly marked fin became quite rapidly filled with notches and scars that reflect Duje’s vivacious character. In fact, he participated in some very interesting dolphin interactions. During one of these we saw Duje showing off in a group, jumping and frequently challenging other males. And just about when the sea surface started to calm down again and splashes became less frequent it was Duje that jumped out of the sea, so high up, leaving us with the impression that only sky is his limit. Although we often see him within our core study area, we never lack fun hanging around in his presence.
Elmar is our most resident male dolphin that keeps his record as the most seen dolphin within Lošinj waters. His story started on 6.06.1998, when our cameras captured his dorsal fin for the very first time. He was already at that time an adult dolphin. Knowing that dolphins usually reach adulthood when they are about 6 years old we can assume Elmar is now older then 25 years- which makes him as old as our research project – in which he has definitely left a long lasting impression. Although from the beginning his dorsal fin was filled with scars, reminders of many interactions he had with other dolphins, still over the years it did not change much and we could easily recognize him on the sea even from a distance. Over the past decade, Elmar spends a lot of time with other dolphins fidel to these waters, Duje, Meta, Quirin and Eva, with whome he formed almost unseparable bonds. It is almost impossible to imagine to see Elmar without his buddies. As he reach the mature phase of his life, his character became calmer, but his reputation as a respectable dolphin and an important group member is definitely still „on“ being the one that has many times surprised us all with the most immense and powerful jumps.
Elsa is a young dolphin we regularly see since the year 2009. She has a peculiar dorsal fin with two very distinctive notches and is easily noticed even within a large group of dolphins. She is often seen with other females and some adult males. Dolphins Ana, Natasa, Andrea, Zizu, Zora and Kiko are among her best friends with which she likes to spend time along the east side of Lošinj island. On 30.06.2016, Elsa proved to us she is a female, by becoming a mother for the first time. As we saw Elsa only one week earlier alone, we knew that her playful firstborn was not older than 7 days. The fetal folding lines, markings that look like stripes frequently seen on newborn dolphins were highly visible on its body. It swam by the side of Elsa clumsily surfacing like all the newborns do. It would leap out the sea surface with the whole head to breath and then, instead of elegantly diving back with the head first, it slapped onto the surface of the sea with its whole body. It is nothing to be worried about, on the contrary, like we teach our babies to walk on land, dolphin mothers teach their offspring to swim and so will Elsa. Until the end of 2016, we had three more sightings of Elsa and her newborn, always in the vicinity of small islands of Oruda and Orijule. We hope that this beautiful dolphin will continue to delight us with her presence in the future encounters.
Nola is a young dolphin we regularly see since the year 2001. She is a calf of our well-known female Quiz. She has a very distinctive falcate-shape fin and two small notches that embellished her fin contour from the early beginning, which made her easily noticed within a group for years.Since it reached adulthood Nola willingly spends her time with our most frequently seen female dolphins Celina, Jelena and Kiko, in the southern and central part of Cres and Lošinj waters. Sightings with Nola and her companions are always cheerful.In 2016, during one summer day, researchers encountered Nola accompanied with her playful newborn calf. To our surprise, Nola left her calf in the company of our research boat without too much worries, while she continued to look around for some food. For us, it was of proof of trust that came from a many years of knowing us. Recently, during an evining encounter of a big group of dolphins, researchers spotted Nola and her calfnear the island of Palacijol. It is interesting that within the same group grandmother Quiz was present with its new calf. Playful calves were approaching the research boat taking each opportunity to surf on the bow waves. As the sun was setting down, we had to say goodbye and leave this lovely group hoping to have a chance to spend time in their presence on many more occasions.
