January, 2012 Bottlenose dolphins within southern Georgia estuaries have been exposed to extremely high levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Dolphins in this region have the highest polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) levels recorded for any marine mammal, and these levels are related to distance from a known EPA Superfund point-source in the Turtle/Brunswick River Estuary (TBRE). [...]

2011 Entanglement in fishing gear is a significant conservation concern for marine species in the state of Florida and worldwide. The Florida Entanglement Working Group (FEWG) was formed in 2003 to focus on these issues in Florida state waters and includes several state (FWC), federal (NOAA), and non-profit organizations as contributing members (the Sarasota Dolphin [...]

After Sarasota Bay lost 2% of its long-term resident dolphins due to interactions with recreational fishing gear in 2006, the SDRP increased research efforts aimed at providing a better understanding of unnatural dolphin foraging behaviors and other human-dolphin interactions of increasing concern. As a part of this effort, graduate research by Jessica Powell (MS, 2009) [...]

Human interactions (HI) with wild dolphins are a problem of increasing conservation concern. In 2011, we conducted a controlled experiment testing the effectiveness of law enforcement and educational outreach at reducing interactions at an HI hotspot near Sarasota Bay. The project centered on a notorious begging bottlenose dolphin (“Beggar”) that has frequented a small portion [...]

In response to the largest oil spill in the history of the U.S., as part of a Natural Resource Damage Assessment, a NOAA-sponsored health assessment of bottlenose dolphins was conducted in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, during August 3-16, 2011. The primary goal of this health assessment was to determine the potential health impacts from the Deepwater [...]

SDRP staff lent their expertise as part of a multi-agency team that conducted a health assessment of bottlenose dolphins in Barataria Bay, Louisiana during August 3-16, 2011. The health assessment was one of several efforts being conducted as part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) for the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Oil Spill. Barataria Bay [...]

The 2010 MC-252 disaster (Deepwater Horizon spill) caused weathered oil to wash ashore along the north central Gulf coast and impacted estuarine communities of plants and animals. We assembled a collaborative team from three Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO) institutions (faculty and graduate students from the University of Central Florida, researchers from the Sarasota Dolphin [...]

In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) was performed on the St. Joseph Bay bottlenose dolphin community. The overall goals of the NRDA process, which is part of NOAA’s Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP), are to: 1) Identify the extent of resources that were damaged 2) [...]