CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Meet Koa! The Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network has documented a rare bottlenose dolphin living in Charleston-area waters.
LMMN received reports of the dolphin in March 2025 and discovered that the dolphin was missing its tail flukes, an extremely uncommon injury for a free-swimming dolphin to survive in the wild long-term. LMMN has continued to monitor the dolphin, Koa, meaning “Little Warrior” in Hawaiian, over the year.
“In the wild, a dolphin’s tail is essentially its engine,” said Lauren Rust, Executive Director of LMMN. “To witness an animal not only surviving, but continuing to navigate and forage with such a significant disability is incredibly rare and speaks to the remarkable resilience and adaptability of these animals.”
Only six other wild dolphin cases, like Koa, have been recorded worldwide, according to LMMN…