Suction cups are a central part of non-invasive tagging of marine mammals. For short term attachment of technology such as the WHOI Dtag they are the attachment method of choice. They do not penetrate the skin and can be easily dislodged by programming the device to lose suction in the cups at the desired time. [...]

Whenever a mammal submerges below the surface of the water, there is an increasing pressure as the water gets deeper. The liquid and solid components of a mammal’s body are incompressible, but the gas filled portions, such as the lungs, are compressible. As the pressure increases, the gas dissolves more readily in the blood and [...]

Throughout their lifetime, free-ranging bottlenose dolphins are exposed to a variety of natural (e.g., changes in water temperature and prey availability) and anthropogenic (e.g., boat traffic, pollution) stressors.  This exposure results in a physiological response that can be identified by hormone concentrations measured in their blood and blubber tissues (e.g., cortisol, aldosterone, T3, T4,  Free [...]

The goal of the bottlenose dolphin visual health index project is to create a method that allows researchers to determine the condition of individual dolphins by examining external features visible in photographs taken remotely, as during photo-identification projects. If photos are taken of enough individuals to form a representative sample of a population, the collective [...]

We conducted two highly successful dolphin health assessment sessions in Sarasota Bay during 2012. The first, during 7-11 May, was funded primarily by Dolphin Quest and the Office of Naval Research (ONR).  A team totaling 110 researchers, veterinarians, students, and dolphin handlers participated in the project, with some coming from as far away as Brazil, [...]

Bottlenose dolphins in Barataria Bay, LA, a site which received significant and prolonged oiling following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, are showing signs of ill health. The dolphins were evaluated in August, 2011 as part of a collaborative study involving NOAA and CZS. Methods for the assessment were modeled after those developed by the Sarasota [...]

The Wildlife Toxicology Laboratory at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF) considers it a great opportunity and privilege to work with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program as we investigate mercury (Hg) in our ocean systems. Working with colleagues who are experts in marine mammals offers a window (sentinel species) for us, especially when high quality [...]

2004: More than 100 dolphins wash up on Florida panhandle beaches near St. Joseph Bay, in an unexplained, unusual mortality event (UME). 2009: Scientists find the highest reported levels of PCBs in any marine mammal, in bottlenose dolphins residing near Brunswick, GA. 2010: The BP Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, the worst environmental disaster in [...]