Calves usually nurse for several years. They may begin to eat a few little fish when they are as young as a few months old. Over a period of years, calves learn to catch fish on their own, and they drink less of their mother’s milk. One calf, orphaned at 14 months of age, survived [...]
By Randall S. Wells, PhD Health assessments of Sarasota Bay dolphins were elevated by circumstances to a higher level of urgency this year with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In advance of the possible arrival of oil from the spill, we wanted to collect baseline health information and tissue samples for measurement of contaminant concentrations, [...]
By Amanda Moors, BS, Jennifer Yordy PhD, and John Kucklick, PhD For 10 years, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), with partial support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Chicago Zoological Society, has partnered with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program (SDRP) to collect, analyze, and bank samples from bottlenose [...]
Sarasota Bay dolphins did show a significantly higher proportion of chlordane relative to other locations except northern Biscayne Bay and Tampa Bay.
The resident community of bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay, Florida, provides unparalleled opportunities to investigate relationships between organochlorine contaminant residues and dolphin life history, health and reproductive parameters, by examining correlations between contaminant concentrations and sublethal effects.
There was no significant relationship between calf survivorship and milk composition. However, calf mass increased significantly with the percentage of milk fat and varied inversely with milk water and potassium content.
Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are chemicals that are added to many industrial and consumer products to decrease their flammability and reduce the risk of fire. Fire incidence has dropped over the past 25 years partly as a result of government regulations and fire prevention policies which mandate the use of flame retardants in many automotive [...]
Thousands of man-made chemicals are produced and used to fulfill the needs of every aspect of our society. Perfluorinated chemicals are used in paints, adhesives, and aqueous fire-fighting foams as well as stain repellent for clothes, furniture and carpets. These chemicals have been detected in human blood and wildlife worldwide including remote regions such as [...]
Organohalogen compounds, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorinated pesticides were manufactured by man to provide materials such as electrical transformers, flame retardants and insecticides. These compounds were released into the environment before their toxicities and environmental consequences were fully understood. Although currently banned from production, these compounds which were synthesized for their stability, have [...]
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