USVI-On-Line

I know there are quite a few people who have visited Sarasota or Venice in Florida for vacation. There was a dolphin, dubbed Beggar, who hung out in the inland waterway in the Venice area. Unfortunately, people fed him, so he was bold in approaching boats in the waterway. We often saw him when we were out in my parents boat. It was fun to see a dolphin up close, but we never fed or tried to pet him. One of my very favorite pictures was in their local paper a few years ago. The picture was of a Marine Police boat right next to a pleasure boat, handing over a ticket for feeding Beggar. Beggar is right in between the 2 boats, sticking his head way up out of the water as if to say "Don't give them a ticket, that handout was yummy". Here is the article if anyone is interested. The contents of his stomach speaks volumes in terms of "don't feed the wildlife!".

http://news.yahoo.com/famous-begging-do ... 15961.html

Never met Beggar, and wouldn't have fed or petted him if we had. What a sad story (his death)....but a funny one about the photo op!