No one knows why Reggie, the solitary-sociable bottlenose dolphin, has chosen to linger alone in Lyme Bay, away from his pod or family group.<\/p>\n
Lone cetaceans are rare in UK waters \u2013 Reggie is believed to be the 16th in 35 years \u2013 but young males do sometimes break away to live alone, probably explained by their fission-fusion society.<\/p>\n
But now he is off Dorset, and his fate, marine experts say, lies in our hands.<\/p>\n
Photographs and social media footage in recent weeks<\/a> have left experts concerned for Reggie \u2013 reluctantly named by the Marine Management Organisation<\/a> (MMO) for official identification purposes despite fears of anthropomorphism.<\/p>\n Headlines claimed he was \u201casking for belly rubs\u201d as he surfaced near swimmers.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not asking for belly rubs,\u201d said Liz Sandeman, co-founder of the Marine Connections<\/a> charity, who has monitored solitary dolphins since 1989. \u201cIt makes him sound like a toy.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, reports suggested he was \u201ctrying to drown\u201d<\/a> two female swimmers after pushing them under water before kayakers intervened.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was definitely not trying to drown people. If that dolphin wanted to drown someone, it could easily do it,\u201d said Sandeman. \u201cReggie is becoming more boisterous over the weeks. He\u2019s a juvenile, he\u2019s not adult. But he\u2019s around 1,000lbs [454kg]. Over the coming months he will become larger. He will become powerful. He doesn\u2019t really know the harm he could be doing to us in the water.<\/p>\n \u201cSo he\u2019s definitely not being aggressive. And he\u2019s definitely not a dangerous dolphin. The situation is becoming dangerous, for the swimmers and the dolphin. But he\u2019s not a dangerous dolphin.\u201d<\/p>\n The media hype over Reggie, she said, \u201cis the worst scenario I\u2019ve seen for at least 25 years\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018Reggie is still a wild animal and should be treated as such.\u2019 Photograph: Marine Management Organisation<\/p>\n Part of the problem is Reggie has become habituated too rapidly, possibly because Lyme Bay is a busy area for swimmers, kayakers and boats. In July, he was spotted with scars from a propeller strike.<\/p>\n