January 2012 The overarching goal of this collaborative project is to develop indicators and methods to quantify chronic stress in bottlenose dolphins. Much research has focused on the stimuli which induce stress in marine mammals as well as the hormonal mediators of the stress response. Stress may be induced by a variety factors, including noise, [...]

Ultrasound examination is a useful, non-invasive way to rapidly evaluate organ health in animals and humans. Marine mammal veterinarians are using ultrasound with dolphins for routine physical exams, diagnosis of disease, and disease monitoring. In order to accurately assess health and disease, there is a need to standardize ultrasound techniques. The clinical team of the [...]

Iron storage disease is becoming a more frequently diagnosed condition in bottlenose dolphins in human care. In other animals and humans, this disease occurs when the body absorbs too much iron usually through the diet. Extra iron in the body builds up in the liver and other organs and this build up can lead to [...]

For centuries, anecdotal evidence has suggested that some human diseases have a certain “smell” associated with them. Ancient Chinese and Greek medical texts both refer to a patient’s breath and body odor as an important diagnostic element, and modern doctors often utilize patient breath odor for informal health assessment as well. For example, ketones in [...]

Skin lesions on bottlenose dolphins from Charleston, SC, Brunswick and Sapelo Island, GA, and Sarasota, FL were retrospectively examined using images from photo-ID surveys conducted during the months of February, April, July and October 2009. Skin lesion prevalence was calculated for each geographic site, as well as for each month within a particular site. The [...]

January, 2012 Mercury is a metal contaminant that can be found in the environment all over the world. Volcanoes are a natural source of mercury pollution, but most mercury contamination comes from human activities, particularly coal-fired power plants. Because it is released directly into the air, mercury can be transported long distances in the environment. [...]

For the second consecutive year, the 2011  dolphin health assessment project in Sarasota proved to be pivotal in our study of bubbles that can surround the kidney of dolphins. With support from the Office of Naval Research we have been examining stranded dolphins on the beaches of Cape Cod for the presence of bubbles. The [...]

The 2006 SDRP “Manual for Field Research and Laboratory Activities,”  is available as a downloadable pdf file. This 62-page document provides detailed documentation of our protocols used for field operations and data processing. It includes chapters on: 1) Field survey protocols, 2) Post-survey lab protocols, 3) Photo-identification protocols, 4) Database entry, verification, and management, and [...]

Bottlenose dolphin health assessments offer valuable insights into the condition and status of wild individuals and populations. However, the capture-release efforts of such health assessments require a restrictive set of conditions to be conducted safely, and they are expensive and logistically complex. A quicker and easier means of obtaining preliminary information on the health of [...]