Dolphins along the beaches and up the creek, get to know these Myrtle Beach locals.
Bottlenose dolphins may be Myrtle Beach’s most popular residents.
Visitors to Grand Strand beaches can often see these marine mammals cruising through the waves, performing acrobatics and surfing boat wakes. They even move well up our tidal creeks and waterways. Here’s what you should know about these playful animals.
Do dolphins live here full-time or are they just passing through?
Dolphins can be seen consistently throughout the year in along the South Carolina coast, according to Lauren Rust, executive director of the Low Country Mammal Marine Network. This group studies the animals in hopes of protecting resident populations.
Rust says that they observe three different populations of common bottlenose dolphins, Scientific name: Tursiops truncates, along the South Carolina coast: resident, coastal, and migratory dolphins. Because South Carolina water remain relatively warm, and there is an abundance of prey near our coasts, all three populations may be seen much of the year.
But, in the colder months, the coastal and migratory dolphins tend to chase their migrating prey down the Atlantic coast leaving only the resident dolphins behind.
Long-term residents go up the creek.
During the winter months, Myrtle Beach area social media sites are abuzz with reports of dolphins in the inland waterways of Little River, Hog Inlet, Murrells Inlet, Pawleys Island and sometimes even well up the Waccamaw River.
Erin Weeks of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources explains that one of the mammal’s favorite foods is red drum, locally known as “Spottail Bass”, and that the fish tend to school in the shallower, and thus, warmer waters of our tidal marshes.
Resident dolphins come up our waterways seeking those tasty treats. When local fishermen hear the tell-tale PUFFGH! sound of the mammals coming up for air, and see their v-shaped wake coming up shallow creeks, most know just to put down their fishing rods and watch. There is just no competition with these voracious predators.
Rust explained that while dolphins are less plentiful during the winter months, sightings are still frequent because the animals are on the move seeking meals that are harder to come by during the colder season.
Carolina dolphins have developed some unique feeding habits.
The Low Country Marine Mammal Network has studied a behavior among resident dolphins known as “strand feeding” that seems to be unique to the Carolina and Georgia coasts. The animals work together to corral schools of fish and push them, and much of their bodies, up onto the beaches and mud flats of local marshes to gather the fish in their mouths before sliding back down into deeper water.
It’s a spectacular display that is rarely witnessed but leaves a lasting impression.
Rust says that the behavior is so rare that they’ve only found about ten locations where “strand feeding” occurs and that this hunting method seems to be passed down from mother to calf only within specific family units.
Learn more about ‘Strand Feeding” from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
Get to know the locals but keep your distance.
As our waters tend to be clearer in Winter, and the dolphins come in close, it is an ideal time to get a good look at these fascinating creatures.
Rust says that the same resident dolphins, often with distinguishing marks, can be seen repeatedly in the same areas. In the Charleston areas, many of the local creatures have been named, photographed and tracked by experts and admirers.
But Rust warns that watchers should keep their distance.
The federal Marine Mammals Protection Act prohibits feeding and harassing marine mammals and requires boaters to stay at least 50 yards away.
When dolphins get too accustomed to human activity, boat strikes are more likely and feeding the animals may change their prey habits and keep them from being able to feed themselves. The South Carolina Department of natural resources provides these tips to be ‘dolphin friendly’ in South Carolina.
