Strand feeding is a rare, group behavior of two or more
dolphins working together to herd schools of fish toward
the shallow water and shore. The dolphins create a corral of
bubbles and wake around a school of fish, and, once the fish
are trapped against the shoreline, the dolphins collectively
rush the beach. The wave of water from the lunging dolphins
forces the fish up onto the beach. The dolphins then beach
themselves, getting as much as two-thirds of their bodies
onto the shore. As the fish are stuck on the sand and unable
to swim away, the dolphins gorge themselves on the helpless
school. When the fish-feeding mayhem subsides, the dolphins
arch their backs and ease back into the shallows to find
another school of fish to strand.
Dolphin strand feeding takes place only in the Lowcountry
and a few other areas of the world. We on Kiawah are
fortunate because Captain Sams Spit is virtually the only
Lowcountry strand feeding location where viewing this
behavior does not require a boat. Because both Kiawah and
Seabrook are adjacent to the places where this activity occurs,
both communities share the benefits and the responsibilities
this special behavior brings.
Although dolphin strand feeding is rare worldwide, it
happens almost daily on Captain Sams Spit. Dolphins are
300- to 500-pound mammals, and the fish they feed on
are often less than six inches long. Hence, they need to
eat regularly and in relatively large quantities. The most
opportune time to see strand feeding is in the four-hour
window bracketing low tide. At that time, the Kiawah River
channel is at its shallowest and most narrow. Additionally, the
level of the water is below the level of the marsh grass, so the
mullet and other food fish do not have as many places to hide.
Even though the general conditions for seeing strand
feeding are well documented, the actual trigger events for this
behavior are not known. Clearly, however, the dolphins go
where the fish are. On any given day, stranding may occur on
either side of the river: from the surf line at the mouth, up the
old channel and Captain Sams Creek, and all the way upriver
almost to Inlet Cove and across to areas near the Cassique
golf course.
To further record this fascinating behavior, the towns
of Kiawah and Seabrook are funding a bottlenose dolphin
strand-feeding monitoring program coordinated by the
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