Swimming with wild dolphins in the Red Sea, Egypt. by İRuth Corner 2001 wild.dolphin@ntlworld.com Olin, the friendly wild dolphin that comes into a bay by a Bedouin fishing village Egypt, has given birth to a female calf. Her name is Mapsutta, which means Happy, and she was born on October 1st 2000. Of course, everybody at the village is thrilled and delighted. Olin brought the baby in to show her off and introduce her to her human friends. It is a truly remarkable situation. The Bedouin tribe in that village have an hereditary defect and some members are born deaf mutes. The dolphin followed a deaf boy home from fishing one day in 1992 and has stayed by the village ever since. The dolphin and the boy have become firm friends, swimming together almost every day of their lives. She has had a profound effect on Abidallah; his self confidence has improved as has his standing within the tribe. His hearing has also improved and he now speaks well. No one knows why Olin has chosen to spend her life with these people. The Bedouin have a very special relationship with her. They call her 'Olin' - a gift from God. She brings tourists to their village, and tourists bring money. For the Bedouin, money making options are few and far between and all are tourism dependent - some fishing, some taxi driving, some trinket sales. The Bedouin know that when Olin goes, the tourists will stop coming. In the meantime they try their best to ensure that each person makes a good connection with her, whilst taking care of her needs. Each of the Bedouin have a very special relationship with Olin, many having grown up with her since childhood. Abidallah is now married and 14 year old Fallah has become Olin's favourite playmate, swimming with her every day. Olin is well loved and well protected by her Bedouin friends. They have a code of conduct for swimmers, which was suggested to them by International Dolphin Watch. No one is allowed into the water wearing jewellery, watches or anything which may scratch her. No sun tan lotions or oils are allowed. The boys make sure each swimmer gets a fair share of Olin's company and people must not chase or touch the dolphins. Sometimes Olin or Mapsutta will come to you, in which case it is OK to gently stroke them, but not to try to hold on. The Bedouin boys are always around and any misdemeanour is noticed and the culprit banned from the water. Most visitors stay a short time, but for those who have patience swimming with Olin is a graceful and rewarding experience. I like to hang on to a boat, biding my time in the warm sea, watching coloured fish swim by, until Olin comes to me. And she always does. Olin appears to take her public duties very seriously. Her routine is to visit each person in the water and swim gently by them. She will do this happily for hours. It is normal for her to spend most of her time in the bay with swimmers, going off occasionally to feed. The Bedouin do not feed her other than to give her octopus as a treat, which she adores. She finds it difficult to dislodge octopi from the reefs herself and happily leaps out of the water to take an octopus from Fallah. She seems to be a happy, well adjusted dolphin and recognises her human friends the instant they appear in the water. She is totally free living, coming and going as she pleases. She has twice had babies since 1992, but sadly, both died. They were males and both died before 6 months of age. Although blood tests were taken, there is no apparent reason for their deaths. There are lots of speculations and rumours. It was thought that the first baby - Jimmy- was poisoned by Olin's milk after she was stung by a ray, but blood tests did not find any cause. Her second baby - Ramadan - just died very suddenly whilst playing happily with his very favourite Bedouin children in the bay. He is buried in the desert sand amongst his human family. We do not know why the calves died, but the mortality rate in the wild, even in a family group, is estimated at 50%. A single dolphin has much less chance of raising her young. Olin is a spotted dolphin. She has been seen with bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins as well as other spotteds. We do not know which dolphins she breeds with. It may be a possibility that the calves so far have been hybrids, and therefore . unlikely to have survived. Mapsutta is smaller than the others were at birth and she is female. Maybe, maybe, she has a better chance. At least so far, she is living up to her given name which means "Happy". We all hope and pray that this little lady will thrive and grow to raise calves of her own, perhaps starting a little pod of Nuweiba dolphins. There is no knowing. "Imsh'Allah" as the Bedouin say "by God's will." Olin appears well and has plenty of milk. Mapsutta tucks in under her mum and suckles from both sides, apparently unperturbed by whatever is going on around her. Normally silent amongst people, Olin now keeps up a constant conversation of whistles and sounds with her baby. Olin is very calm, moving slowly and gracefully, swimming gently amongst the people with little Mapsutta by her side. The baby however, is not so dignified, she gives excited twirls and spins and chases fish, looking curiously at the swimmers around her, and becoming more confident by the day. Since Mapsutta was about three weeks old Olin has been taking her further afield, coming to the Bedouin village only sporadically. They are seen swimming off the shore all along the coast, sometimes with quite large groups of other dolphins. Perhaps she is being educated. Perhaps Olin is showing her the local "fast food joints" like the fishing nets where dinner is caught for her. There are concerns being voiced that it is because Olin brings her babies in to swim with people that they die. Maybe they are harassed? In my opinion this is not so. The situation in Nuweiba is the most ideal I have seen or heard of. The dolphins are completely free. The people are confined to a small swimming area marked by floats which the dolphins swim in and out of. It is their choice to enter or leave. There are no speed boats, no diving boats, no sailing boats and no jet skis. Only the Bedouin bring boats into the bay and they use small dinghies with small engines and are very respectful to the dolphins. This article appeared in International Dolphin Watch's members magazine 'Dolphin' in April 2001. İRuth Corner 2001 More info: Wild and Free www.dolphinswims.co.uk