The bottlenose dolphin exhibits a fission-fusion social structure characterized by temporary associations lasting from minutes to hours. Such flexible grouping patterns in which dolphins are constantly changing associates is intriguing and raises the question as to what factors are influencing a dolphin’s decision to leave and join a temporary group. As groups change in composition, [...]

Our playback studies are designed to test specific questions that arise from the observational studies on dolphin communication that we conduct. All of our playback studies are carried out during brief capture-release events, allowing us to carefully observe the dolphins’ reactions, such as whether they turn their head towards the speaker when they hear a [...]

Stress has been defined as an environmental effect on an individual that overtaxes its functional abilities. The diversity of stress responses among marine mammals makes it difficult to develop a comprehensive diagnostic protocol to evaluate stress. The development of a relatively non-invasive tool with which to evaluate stress in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) could allow [...]