It is with sad news that I report that Misha’s carcass was recovered on July 6, 2006, near Port Manatee in Tampa Bay. Misha was one member of a pair of dolphins that participated in a unique two-part scientific experiment. Echo and Misha were initially collected in Tampa Bay in July 1988 and spent two [...]
For decades “red tides” have been considered to be a nuisance along Florida’s Gulf coast and have had a significant impact on the economy, wildlife, and human health of many coastal regions of the U.S. This type of harmful algal bloom (HAB) has been responsible for shellfish poisoning, fishery closures, loss of tourism and marine [...]
By Nélio Barros, PhD, Mote Marine Laboratory, Peggy Ostrom, PhD, Michigan State University, Craig Stricker, PhD, U.S. Geological Survey, and Randall S. Wells, PhD We used a combined approach of stable isotope and conventional stomach content analyses in dietary and population differentiation studies of bottlenose dolphins from central west Florida. Teeth obtained from dolphins stranded [...]
Bottlenose dolphins along the Florida panhandle experienced three unusual mortality events in 1999, 2004, and 2006, in which over 320 dolphins died. A large number of these strandings were located near St. Joseph Bay, FL. However, it is not known which stock(s) were impacted. This project represents the first effort to identify dolphin ranging patterns [...]
Red tide can affect fish in several ways: by exposure to brevetoxin (the neurotoxin produced by the red tide organism, Karenia brevis) in the water; by consuming food that is tainted by brevetoxin; or by exposure to hypoxic water (water with unusually low concentrations of dissolved oxygen), which often accompanies severe red tides. Red tide [...]
We have been able to continue our year-round monthly monitoring of the Sarasota dolphin community thanks to support from Earthwatch Institute volunteers and NOAA Fisheries. The Sarasota bottlenose dolphin community is the most thoroughly studied free-ranging dolphin population in the world. We continue to address increasingly refined questions about the lives of these animals with [...]
On August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley, a major Category Four storm, swept a path through Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound on the west coast of Florida causing widespread ecological damage. Subsequently, Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound were affected by prolonged red tide episodes at fish kill levels throughout 2004 and 2005. These combined [...]
Beginning in August 2006 and continuing to the present, a persistent bloom of the red-tide alga, Karenia brevis, has been present in Sarasota Bay and surrounding waters. Cell concentrations have reached levels of several million cells per liter of seawater, indicating a severe red tide event. As point of reference, cell concentrations of 1,000 cells [...]
Elizabeth Berens, Janet Gannon, Randy Wells, Ari Friedlander (Duke University), and Damon Gannon are working to create predictive habitat use models for the bottlenose dolphins of Sarasota Bay. The goals of the project are to (1) identify patterns of habitat selection, (2) determine which environmental factors (e.g., prey abundance) drive these patterns of habitat selection, [...]
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