Monitoring Released Dolphins

Dolphins who are treated at the Mote Marine Lab Dolphin and Whale Hospital (MMLDWH) are released as soon as the veterinarians and the National Marine Fisheries Service feel the animal is healthy enough to be set free.

Usually they are released near the location where they were first rescued. After release we try to monitor their activities.

Dive Deeper to learn more about the probability of survival of released animals.

If it’s in the SDRP area, a small radio transmitter may be attached to the dorsal fin to allow us to track the dolphin from a boat.

In the case of Ginger we were able to check in on her nearly every day for the 2-month life of the transmitter.

Observations confirmed she had returned to areas where she was previously sighted. She seemed to be hanging around the same crowd of dolphins as before, and otherwise she still appears “normal.”

Sometimes a sick dolphin or small whale that normally lives well offshore strands. Once they have been treated and are healthy again, they are released back offshore, if possible near the appropriate habitat for their species.

With offshore animals we don’t have the resources to monitor them by boat after release. So when possible, we use satellite- linked transmitters to track their movements and their dive behavior.

Tracking an offshore dolphin or whale, sometimes supplemented by an occasional (and expensive!) aerial observation, gives the science community new insights into the movements and activities of these otherwise hard-to-study animals.

For instance, the satellite-linked tracking records showed that a Risso’s dolphin named Betty, usually made only shallow dives after being released in 2007. On occasion though, she made dives to 800 meters deep and stayed submerged as long as 15 minutes.

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